


Incendium

by juggernaught



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, Blood and Violence, Curses, F/M, Falling In Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-18
Updated: 2016-07-20
Packaged: 2018-07-24 20:34:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 21
Words: 60,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7522183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juggernaught/pseuds/juggernaught
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natsu is the last dragon. Why? Because as long as he can remember, he's been cursed: all of his friends are doomed to die. He's been living alone to avoid taking more lives when a feisty little Mage named Lucy finds him, and like the others, is mortally wounded. However, she cannot die...?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1: The Strange Mage, Lucy

**Author's Note:**

> Slightly modified from the FF.net version. There isn't anything major though, mainly little grammatical/spelling fixes.

I look up at the full moon. It's always been a source of interest for me, how things can exist beyond our petty little world, though in all honesty I much prefer the Sun, even though fire and I have never been the greatest of allies. Fire is the reason that I live in Magnolia, a mere blot on its populace, nothing more than an erroneous mark on its people. I don't get a job; I don't join a Guild; I don't make friends; I don't make myself a home. I exist only because I have to, a hallmark of my kind in its entirety.

It isn't that I feel guilty for what's happened - I stopped feeling guilt long ago, at the same time losing the last of my humanity - but that I despise the arrogant, loathing world that we exist in. A world where magic, the gift that humans have been granted out of a serendipitous quirk of fate, is used as weaponry against one-another. Everybody is a human, so why nitpick the minor differences? The fact of the matter is that the same blood runs through everyone's veins, and the same hearts beat in everyone's chest; somehow, the ignorance overrules, and the world falls into the disarray that it is.

It's sitting there, contemplating ubiquitous matters, that I have an epiphany, a strike of lightning knowledge that I haven't seen before: I'm hungry as shit. It confounds me how I can miss trivial things like that at times; though my father always said that I have a diode of a mind. I prepare to go scavenging stray-animal style when I notice a second thing: a very sweet scent permeates the air, one completely different of the running rivers and vestiges of productivity. This scent is more like flowers and of paper ink. I don't have the time to turn before a cold blade presses against my windpipe.

"Would you bet a thousand Jewel I won't drive this knife in?" she says. It has to be a she, that or a very effeminate male.

"I would, actually."

The knife digs further into my throat; a bead of blood stains its shining surface. "Why's that?"

"Because, firstly, you do not smell of blood or metal, which means that this is a first for you, and a very haphazard first at that, and secondly, these are the soft hands of an aristocrat, and if that is so - which I do not doubt - then you would rather hire someone to do away with me than sully your little hands."

The knife disappears, whistling as it cut through the air in her haste. Then she plops down on the eaves next to me. "Well, you're almost right," she sighs tiredly. "I'm no aristocrat anymore. And I was just trying something; obviously, I'm not a very frightening Mage."

That was a point I was going to bring up, because I could smell Celestial Keys on her. I turned; she was young, seventeen or eighteen, with a thin figure and soft blonde locks. She reminded me somewhat of an old friend. Grandine. "I don't like company," I say, and begin to slide down the eaves when she grabs me by my cloak, pulling me back up.

"But I'm lonely," she whines. I grimace.

"Then go home." Once more, she stops me from leaving.

"I can't..." She pauses, looking at her boots. "I'm sorry, but I can't. Being at home is the same as being alone. But you're some sort of company."

"Bad company," I correct. "Being with me is just going to cause you trouble, lady."

"I don't believe you."

I settle back on the eaves. "Do you believe in stories?"

"Yes," she says without hesitation.

"They tell stories about dragons, how they're the only beings alive that, instead of manipulation the etherion in the air, pull infinite magic from the One Magic."

"I've heard them," she says with low conviction.

"Well, what would you say if I told you that I'm one of them - no, that I'm the  _last_  of them?"

"I'd say your pink hair dye is leeching your IQ points," she says, basically giving me a vocabulary-punch to the gut. I fight back the instinct to recoil at the mention of my very natural  _salmon_ hair.

"Alright, then." This time, I manage to Magnolia's dirt pathway. "I'll be seeing you then."

"Wait!" she calls, chasing after me as I take loping strides, strides that have to be matched by a wild sprint on her part. She catches me by the wrist. "Just because I don't believe your made-up story?"

"Precisely, because  _I'm not lying_." I don't know if it's my serious tone, or the fact that I'm still walking very fast, but she relinquishes her grip. "Maybe I just am that rare and I want to stay that way."

"What?" she asks.

"I'm a dragon, damn you!" I say, momentarily not caring about who hears. "Does that not make sense? Do you not speak English?"

She looks very distraught, momentarily dredging up the sandy wisps of memories I've long since tried to trample and shove into the forgotten crevices of my mind. I see fire, hot and red and destructive and painful, fire licking at everything I care about, laughing as it gulped down the bits of my past and plaintively razing over the few remainders of it. I stagger away from her, now as overwhelmed as she is. "I'm cursed," I whisper. "Cursed with death. Any friends I make, the slightest camaraderie I spread, is repaid with death on their part. You see? I can't join a Guild."

"I don't believe you."

I can't help it - I laugh at her. How stubborn and adamant she is! "Why? Why the hell can't you?"

"Because just by looking at you - looking in your eyes - I can tell you're a good guy, and you're lonely."

I stop moving. "What are you, a freakin' psychic? A bad one, too, because you're obviously getting horrible reception."

She puts her hands on my chest, pressing me against a wall. I have nowhere else to go. "No... I'm very sure," she presses, her soft eyes hardening with assurance. She's a persistent little princess, I'll admit. "Who cursed you?"

"What?" It's my turn to be stupefied.

"Who cursed you, I said? Do you not speak English?" she mocks, irritating me to a slight degree.

"It's of no importance for you to know." I gently grab her arms - she is smaller than I, and my strength is probably three times her own - and pull her hands away. She huffs and presses them against my chest again angrily, trying to back me into a corner. "Are you serious?" I sigh.

"Very. I won't let you go until you tell me."

I correct myself: she's a persistent little bitch. "You're aware that I'm much stronger than you are?"

"I don't care."

I roll my eyes and grab her around the waist, hefting her over my shoulder like a regular bundle. She yells and punches my back to little effect. Initially, I try to drop her a few feet away, but her thrashing boots land a kick a little too low and I stumble. She slips from my grip and falls noisily into the river. I wait a few seconds; she come up spluttering and gasping. While she attempts to climb to the bank I run ahead, leaving her behind as I made a roundabout way through Magnolia, tearing down the streets I am so used to but despise. Despise because I always tread them alone, without the warm tinge of friendship that brightens even the murkiest outlooks. I do not have that. I have nothing.

When I'm in one of the shadier portions of Magnolia, content I've lost her, I fall against one of the dilapidated buildings, panting for breath. I've run farther than I intended; even my body has limits. I slide to the ground, pleased knowing that she can't have followed me. Grown men struggle to match my running pace, and she's just a teenager. There's no change-

"I caught you!"

She scares the shit out of me. I literally blinked and she was standing in front of me, hands on her hips, a coy smile on her face. I fall flat on my back out of surprise. "H-How the hell?" I ask, gathering my wits. She turns to the side.

"Thanks, Virgo," she says to a pink-haired woman in maid's clothes. She bows respectfully. She smells like a Spirit.

"There is no punishment today, Princess?" she asks.

"Punishment?" I ask. She flushes terribly.

"Gate closed!" she announces petulantly, and Virgo the maid disappears.

"Damn it," I say. "You're like a bad itch - can't get rid of you."

"It's because I know you're being stubborn," she says.

" _Me?_ " Ain't that ironic?

"Yes, you. Even if you don't want to admit it, you want a friend. I know what it's like to be lonely without another soul to be with you, and I don't want you to feel like that. You understand?" She looks very sincere, which surprises me a bit. I don't recognize humans for their sincerity.

"I don't want your charity."

"But it's not charity. I really do want to be friends."

She smiles, and something in my heart pulls. Damn it - way too sincere. I'm actually starting to get convinced to become friends with her...

"Fire!" someone in the distance screams. I look up and a sinking feeling fills my body. The horizon is starting to turn orange.

"I'm sorry," I say hurriedly, "but I have to leave!"

She follows my eyes, shocked. "That's... That's my apartment! The landlady was sleeping there! I have to check on her!" She pulls out a golden Key. "Open, Gate of the Lion! Loke, come help!"

A flash of golden stars blind me for a minute; when my vision returns I see a spiky-hair man in an immaculate suit and azure glasses. He spots the fire and jumps into action. "What to do?" he asks her.

"Take me to my apartment! Fast!" she yells. He scoops her in his arms and starts running at twice my fastest speed, and I'm out of breath to begin with (and still hungry), and even as I start running fast, terror shackles my legs, weighing them down.

_"Wendy!" I shouted, pushing aside the smoldering remains of a tree. Again, I couldn't see her. The acrid taste of smoke filled the air, blocking her scent, and my hearing was muffled by the crackle of flames. I whirled around, frantic, but the only thing I could see were forest trees burning like matchsticks. Because of me, the forest was alight and my friends were in danger._

_"Natsu-san," a weak cry came. I barreled through the blackened trunks like a bull, using my arms to cushion the blows. Finally, I spotted a bit of blue lying on the ground. I took a deep breath, inhaling the flames within a five-feet radius, even though I was already too full from initially trying to quell the wildfire. The area around us dulled to sooty grey and black. Wendy was lying on the ground, her pale skin streaked with ash, her usually vibrant eyes dulled. "Natsu-san..." She couldn't even manage a smile. I grabbed her as gently as possible, lifting her by the shoulders._

_"Wendy, keep your eyes open," I ordered, lifting her in my arms. "I'll get you out of here. I promise."_

_She reached up, her small hand trembling as it grasped my shirt. "I...I'm sorry, Natsu-san. I couldn't...kill...the fire..."_

_Tears threatened to spill from my eyes as I charged through the forest. "Wendy, don't talk. Don't talk. Please. It's gonna be okay, it's gonna be okay..."_

_I knew, however, that it wouldn't be okay. What I thought was ash was really her skin, burnt to charcoal. With all those burns she wouldn't possibly be okay, but I wasn't going to say it. Not to her, who hasn't made a friend outside of me, Gajeel and that little Exceed, as she called it. I couldn't say it._

_"Damn it!" I shouted, kicking down a large tree obscuring my way. "It's the damn curse! Damn it, damn it, damn it!"_

_I kept saying that until the smoke finally got to me. I couldn't see a damn thing anymore, and my lungs were getting sore from inhaling it so much, on top of the excess fire I consumed. Even though I had Wendy (who had probably passed while I was running, I don't know) I failed her, and myself._

The street is a streak of fire blazing through the night. People huddle in five-person groups near the river, whispering furiously in wait for a Water Mage or something to come by. I catch one woman saying "I'm sorry-I just left the pot on too long-I didn't mean for it to catch on-I don't even know how it happen-" but I ignore it. Through the fire I smell her and that lion, Loke, in a flaming two-floor apartment. I brace my feet and jump, aiming at a window with a minimum amount of fire. Instead, my head crashes against the glass maladroitly. I would've blacked out and fallen back to the street if a hand hadn't shot out and grabbed me, yanking me inside. I landed flat on my back, now breathless in the smoke-filled room. Loke looks at me gratingly.

"Lion," I say, beginning to thank him, but he puts his hand on my mouth, shushing me.

"You have to go help her," he orders. "This is your fault."

_My fault. My fault._  The words spin in my mind, making me feel more lightheaded than the smoke. I hardly process what he says next; he decks me in the jaw once, not very hard but hard enough to snap me back to reality. "What did I do?" I ask, still out of it.

"Your curse. I know about it," he says, but he actually looks a little sorry for me. Pity is something I don't need - that is, unless it's from that girl. "Look, I don't really care. You have to help her - she got caught on the first floor, and for some reason, my magic is faulty in here. I couldn't help her even if I managed past all this fire." Yeah, he says that with that manicured, spotless suit of his.

"I would've done it anyway."

"I'm sure you would've, Natsu Dragneel."

I don't have enough time to ask how he knows my name; I charge through the fire, using it to satiate my hunger as I throw burning debris from my path like a madman. Somewhere along the way my cloak can't take the heat anymore and blows into golden flames; I toss it away, leaving my vest and canvas pants that I picked up at some dingy store. I find the stairs, except their crumbling like dirt, and I don't realize it until I actually put my foot on the second one and it falls apart, causing me to fall headfirst to the ground. Good thing I have a hard head.

"Hey-!" I hear her weak shout a little further up, past the train wreck of bunched furniture that is the front door. I kick away fallen beams, burned furniture, and crumbling walls until I find her on her hands and knees, an unconscious lady (presumably the landlady) with a small gash on the forehead lying beneath her. I suck in a sharp breath; she protected her, all right. There's a sharp spike of wood sticking into her shoulder blade and out the other end of her chest, dripping rapidly-drying blood on the burning floor. She sees me and smiles. "What took you so long?" she asks.

" _Please_ ," I urge, though I'm not sure to who. "Don't do this to me again. Not again."

Her eyebrows furrow in confusion. Carefully - the same way I held Wendy - I take her into my arms. She doesn't protest at all; she simply watches me with her soft eyes. I hold her carefully with one arm and get the landlady with the other, turning my back to the burning wall. "Try to hold on," I say, then I bring my foot forward and throw it back with all my strength, smashing it into the already fragile wall. Chunks of plaster smash into my back instead of hitting the two and I immediately feel the night's air on my skin. I turn to the opening I created and walk through it and to the front of the building. The crowds look up as I set her and the landlady down; a couple of Healing Mages come over to tend to the lady, but one, a woman with minty-green hair, shakes her head at the girl.

"I'm sorry," she says, looking at the spike still sticking from Lucy's chest. I grab it, frustrated, and pull it free. Blood stains our skin but she hardly reacts. Damn it all. "Do you know her?"

"I wish," I say as the Mage turns back to the crowd. The wound is a long slit from her collarbone to right breast; I put her hand over it, a weak attempt at hiding it. Her eyes are still open, staring at the night sky. I reach my hand out, putting them over her eyelids, when suddenly her hand flashes out, unhindered, very spryly too, unlike a dying person's, and grabs my wrist. Her heartbeat, a sound I haven't heard in a while, thunders in my ears, and her chest, previously still, jumps with a sudden breath.

"What are you doing?" she asks, her voice clear as day. I open my mouth and close it again, over and over, flabbergasted. Then I look down, and what I see completely shocks me. The wound is gone, a simple pink scar on her pale skin.

_What the fuck?_


	2. The Fairy Tail Guild

"The fuck." I'm at a complete loss of words. "The flying fuck."

She stares at me, then at her scar, then back at me. "What? What's going on?"

I'm fucking short-circuiting. She had a piece of wood go  _through_  her chest, had to have pierced her heart, and yet she's completely fine! That's fucking  _impossible_!

"Um, hey," I say slowly, gripping her shoulders, mostly to keep from blacking out myself. "You're...you're fine, right? No pain or...anything?"

She shakes her head no.

"Shit," I say. I don't know who's sanity I'm doubting more, mine or her's, because this is insane. Suddenly she frowns, looking past me as a group of Water Mages try to extinguish the fires consuming the block.

"My house," she says lugubriously. I was so frantic that I forgot that it was her house burning, meaning that she has no place to stay. She sits up, her eyes watering. "My manuscripts...my letters to Mama..." If there's one thing I can't handle, it's a crying girl.

"Don't cry," I say like a complete moron. She rubs her eyes, looking at me. "Um... Baa?"

She starts laughing. "You said 'Baa?'"

I start burning. "I guess."

"How did this even happen?" she murmurs, looking at the burnt remains of her home.

"It's my curse," I say dolefully. "I don't know why, but... But fire seems to follow me, wherever I go and with whatever I do, and take away the things I care about."

Her eyes glitter, and not with tears this time. "That means...you care about me?"

"Of course not! Why should I?"

She turns away, giving me a smug smile. "Your lips say one thing, but I see you blushing."

"Damn it!"

"Hey," she says, "you never told me your name. Are you trying to pass off as a mysterious stranger?"

That ship sailed a long time ago. I can neither repel her with indifference or rudeness, so I don't see a point in hiding my name anymore. "Natsu. Natsu Dragneel."

"Lucy," she smiles. I almost want to smile, too. I don't know why - she's just so blatant that when I'm around her I focus only on her, like the blank canvas of my life suddenly has a mark on it that I can look at. It's really fucking amazing for someone like me.

Suddenly she tenses all over, then doubles over and almost hits her head on the ground before I catch her. She's out like a light, but thankfully, she's still breathing. Really, she is something special.

I've seen Fairy Tail a preponderance of times, though every instance I was a passerby; instead, right now I'm approaching its doors with an unconscious girl in my arms and both of us with ashy, blood-stained clothes. I wouldn't look twice at myself; it'd be a miracle for anyone inside to. Since my hands are occupied I hit the doors with my foot. They give and creak open loudly.

The Guild is in high-swing. The first floor had rows of tables that are filled with every kind of Mage existing - Water, Fire, Wind, Paper, Ice, Requip, Dance, etc. The second floor, wrapping around the first floor, is notably quieter, housing only a bulletin board with a couple of wizards lingering at it. There's a bar with a white-haired Mage bearing drinks and a similar-looking pair of people nearby, presumably family. There's a curly-haired wizard lurking behind a pillar, eyeing a raven-haired exhibitionist sitting at a table. There is a second bulletin board at the back with a red-skinned Mage standing by it; he's so still I assume he's always standing there, indecisive. There's a blonde man with a lightning scar standing on the second floor looking down on everyone and there's a redheaded female Mage in silver armor sitting near the back polishing a bloody sword. I don't have a response to that.

I'm so caught up in the sights, smells, and sounds of the Fairy Tail Guild that I don't realize someone has approached me until I get a nasty bump on my forehead. "Ouch - damn it!" I stumble, catching myself before I drop Lucy. A dwarf of an old man is standing before me, holding a gnarled wooden staff that he had probably bruised my head with.

"I couldn't get your attention otherwise," he says airily. He has a very lax disposition, but at the same time, exudes an air of greatness. "And I can tell you're in need of assistance," he adds, looking at Lucy.

"Yes," I say. "She's... Well, I don't really know what's wrong with her - if there  _is_  something wrong - but I need help.  _Please_."

He turns and calls for someone named Elfman. A dark-skinned man with white hair like the barmaid comes over and takes Lucy with more gentleness than I can figure his burly frame has and takes her away. I start after him but stagger, and I would've fallen if that raven-haired kid hadn't grabbed my arm. Really, I want to thank him, but staring at his barren figure, the best thing I can come up is, "I can tell you're body is muscled, 'cause it's hard and firm and everything, but some  _things_  are just hanging. Put some fucking pants on!"

That strikes a chord with my naked comrade and he then proceeds to punch me in the face. I'm not even in no damn mood to pick a fight with some random kid desperately in need of a tablecloth, and instead of honoring his wish to have a long, stretched-out brawl in the middle of the Guild I give him what can be called my strongest Fire Dragon's Iron Fist in a while, though it's instead a Fire Dragon Sky Uppercut, because my attack sends his jaw, then the rest of his barren body, flying up and then crashing down like a pasty meteor, obliterating the tables within a fifteen-feet diameter. The aftershock jars everyone's teeth. I look around, humiliated.

"I'm sorry-" I start, but I'm taken aback by the resounding whoops and calls. They actually seem...encouraging. I get a lot of back-pats and shoulder-punches.

"Great job!"

"I've never seen Gray get it handed to him that hard before!"

"You're one strong bastard!"

"Cool!"

I'm so surprised that I just stand there like a statue while I get praises for knocking someone out. Gray sits up, letting out an angry breath, rubbing his jaw that now has bruises in the form of my knuckles. He gives a sardonic smile. "I'll get you back for that," he says, standing up. Then he gasps, "Shit! Where did my pants go?" And charges away.

Amazing. Unequivocally inconceivable.

I slump into one of the tables. The other Fairy Tail Mages try to goad me into another fight or offer me some free food but I refuse; the ordeal with the fire and Lucy has me exhausted, physically and mentally, and I pushed my limits eating all that fire in her house. I don't know what happened - maybe I passed out, or was lost in thought - but suddenly I wasn't in the Guild hall anymore.

_"Dad!" I shouted, even though I knew my efforts were feeble, my shouts being easily repelled off the thick canopy of leaves. I crashed down on the dirt, panting and heaving and searching for breath in the dank swampy air. Find your way out, he had said, without smell or hearing to guide you. At first, I thought he was just shitting me, until he clubbed me on the head, instantly knocking me out, and left me in middle of the blandest forest possible. Everywhere I went seemed the same - murky yellow-brown water up to my ankles, thin-trunk trees rising and shading the sky and Sun with their thick leaves, choking everything else except the lichen that overran the ground, big rocks and slimy tendrils of vines - and every other step some bug tried to get a taste of my ass. I was depressed as hell; I thought that I couldn't get out._

_"Dad, you crazy bastard! I ought'a-" I stopped because I was hearing another voice - and I was damn sure it wasn't mine or Igneel's. I felt hot breath on my bare shoulders (I hadn't expected to be thrown in a swamp; I only wore a pair of ragged shorts and Igneel's scarf) and every hair on my body pricked in attention. Stuck in my own troubles, I hadn't begun to think that the darkness of the forest would create an ideal hiding place for smaller animals, and as a result, larger predators. I turned very, very slowly; thankfully, my eyes were acclimated to very dark places, otherwise I would've been very easy pray to the two rabid wolves that were now on my tail. I turned and ran as fast as I could, which was admittedly fast, but not enough in the face of two natural predators. And I was only a kid then, so I was pretty much an after-dinner snack._

_I was so scared that if I hadn't pissed on a bush earlier I would've been completely soaked. Every attempt to get a flare going was futile; the air was too stale, too lacking in oxygen to nurse a smolder. I was in some deep, deep shit. In my haste, trying to see past the veil of smoke I created while I was trying to get a good conflagration going, I missed a tree root that protruded from the ground, almost acrimoniously laughing at me as the moss draping it caught on my heel, throwing me to the ground. I rolled on my back just as the wolves gained on me, snarling and snapping, saliva dripping from their muzzles on my face. "Shiiii..." I whispered, to scared to finish the word._

_"Iron Dragon's Roar!"_

_The thin trees snapped like toothpicks as a shrapnel-infused whirlwind blew through, carrying with it the wolves until they splashed into the muddy water. I threw my arm up to shield my face from the jagged bits of metal, and then I heard the same gruff voice say, "Iron Dragon Karma Sword!" and then all I could hear was the sound of the wolves' mad howls. When I lifted my arm they were two disfigured bodies floating downstream. My savior was standing at the bank, a scowl deep-set on his face. He looked my age, maybe a couple of years older, with disheveled black hair and reptilian red eyes. His skin was studded with metal like the metal sword that replaced his right hand. "You're seriously Igneel's son?" he snorted, walking over to me. "You were cryin' like a brat."_

_"I wasn't crying," I argued._

_"Sure looked like it."_

_"Then you must have bad eyes." I stuck out my hand but he snorted again. I got to my feet without help._

_"Natsu," I introduced. "You are...?"_

_"Tired of talkin' to a baby like you." He turned to the hole he created in the damp wall of forestry. "But if it bothers you so much, they call me Black Steel Gajeel, or Gajeel."_

_"Gajeel," I murmured as he stalked through the hole, his boots smacking loudly against the muck of the ground. He seemed scary; scary, but interesting._

I open my eyes, realizing that I had in fact passed out, and look down in surprise to see that someone's put me in what looks like an infirmary, with beds and paper curtain dividers. I look at my now-bandaged hands; they were probably injured when I was trying to help Lucy, throwing around flaming pieces of wood and plaster. I wasn't doing myself any favors by preforming those superhuman feats. Though it was worth it to save her life. Eh? Why am I thinking that way?

"Mrrhm..." I hear a soft groan from the next bed over. I stand up, ignoring the stiff pain from my overtaxed muscles, and walk to the other side of the curtain. There, I see Lucy in a bed, murmuring softly in her sleep. I feel the sudden urge to reach out and touch her, confirming her existence, but I ignore it. Why the hell am I getting so strange over a damn human girl? She stirs suddenly and sits bolt-upright, eyes wide.

"Lucy, it's just me," I say. The tension leaves her body in a sigh.

"Bad dream," she says. She rubs her eyes and looks around. "Where are we?"

"Fairy Tail."

Her eyes widen dubiously. "No, really? We're in  _Fairy Tail_?"

"We're not in Fairy Ass."

She starts to laugh, then cuts herself off with a snort, but the damage has been done. I can tell she thinks I'm funny. "You can't hide your amusement, Lucy," I taunt.

"You're so not cute," she huffs, turning away.

"Do you know how people state predators can smell fear? We can smell other things too, like  _lies_."

She blushes furiously, though I can't tell if it's because of anger or embarrassment, and before I can ask the door opens and the old man enters, looking from me to Lucy and back to me. "It seems the both of you are in good health," he notes, his face straight but his tone smiling.

"Um, yeah." I look down, focusing on my hands. They are bandaged now - really, I was so pumped on adrenaline that I could have been shot in the head and not noticed until death was literally in my face.

"Oh, right!" I turn to Lucy. She smiles at me. "Thank you, Natsu, for saving my life earlier."

A warm feeling floods my body, from my head to my feet. Because I've tried so hard to distance myself from others, preventing a relationship, I've never really known infatuation towards another - or rather, a girl, to be specific. Looking at her, she seems my age, maybe a year younger...

What the  _fuck_ , Natsu. Why the  _hell_  are you thinking about these things? You shouldn't even be here, around all these people, making yourself  _complacent_...

That's what the logical part of my brain is saying, but both my fluttering heart and enervated body reach a consensus to give a dual protest. I turn to the man again. "I never caught your names, or why you came here covered in ash and blood," he says.

"I'm Natsu," I say, "and that's Lucy." I explain the fire and Lucy's loss of a home, excluding how the fire happened. He regards the both of us, slowly.

"Well, Lucy, you can stay as long as it takes you to find a new home," he says to her.

"Really?" I don't think Lucy's smile can be wider - if so, her face will split. It's kind of cute seeing her like that. "Thank you! No, seriously, I couldn't be more grateful!"

He nodded once, then the man - somewhere during my explanation, he gave his name as Makarov, the Guild Master - turns to look at me. Here it comes, I think. "What about you, Natsu? Do you have a place to stay?"

"No," I say. Lucy looks at me quizzically.

"Then where do you sleep?" she asks.

"Alleys. Sheds. The occasional unlocked store."

"That's horrible!" Lucy exclaims. I shrug.

"I don't want to stay around people," I say. "I'm..." I have to turn away for a minute, remembering Wendy's charred body. "I'm bad luck."

Makarov looks up at me. "I think you'll be happy to know that at Fairy Tail, we don't judge a person by past or future actions, but by how they choose to live their lives now. And I can tell, by your rescue of this young lady here, that you aren't a bad person."

 _That's what you know._  "I'm not, sir, but-"

"Why don't you stay the night?" he offers. "We have beds available, as well as food-"

At that, my stomach growls loudly. Makarov laughs; I grimace. Curse my body and all the sustenance it needs.

Makarov leaves then. I look at Lucy. "You truly intend on staying?" I ask. "Joining the Guild?"

"Of course!" she replies. "It's been my dream since I was a child to be in Fairy Tail. Natsu, why don't you join?"

"My curse," I murmur. Her face falls.

"Right," she says, deflated.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine on my own - I always have been," I say, but I sound disappointed even to myself. I can't work up bravado - not tired and unwilling and on an empty stomach. Actually, just the latter; I can't do  _anything_  on an empty stomach.

"Please?" Lucy pleads, moving to her knees and clasping her hands together. Don't look, I tell myself. Don't look, don't look, don't- Damn it! Her eyes got me again!

"Okay, I'll stay the night," I say automatically, mentally punching myself in the face for being so weak-minded. I can't, for the life of me, figure out why this girl has so much of an influence on me.

"Cool!" She slides to the ground; her chest is bandaged beneath her (slightly burned) clothes but it doesn't hinder her as she bounces on the balls of her feet, practically running to the door. "I'm gonna go meet everyone!" she exclaims before pulling it open and lurching into the fray. I sit at the foot of the infirmary's bed, sighing.

"Quite a surprise," Makarov says, "to see a lone dragon so deep in Magnolia."

Immediately, I tense up. "What?"

"I am very old, child, and as such I've learned a few things. One of them is to recognize a dragon when I see one." He smiles almost childishly. "Your magic is extremely unique."

He's sunk the knife in and doesn't realize how deep the wound is. I relax myself a tiny bit, but remain alert - I don't like to be reminded of my magic. "It is," I agree.

"And dragons always have unusual appearances - for you, lad, it would be your rosy hair."

I flush, turning away. "It used to be red. Really!"

Makarov laughs it off, frustrating me. Then his expression turns serious. "You also seem to have another sort of magic about you. A curse."

My heart pulls. "I know."

"Would you mind explaining it, if you can?"

I don't want to, but secrets are an unbearable weight to one who's seen it all. "I...It happened when I was young. I...Someone had a grudge against my father. He took it out on his son - me." I stand up. "I'm sorry, Makarov sir, but I can't really talk about it."

"It's alright, my child. However, there is something you should be wary about."

I stare as Makarov heads to the door, flashing me a grin over his shoulder. "Gray Fullbuster doesn't take a beating lying down, if you know what I mean."

The last worry I have is of recalcitrant kids, but it is kind of nice that I now have a sort of sparring partner. I smack myself on the head as I reenter the Guild hall. Damn it, Natsu. You're getting way too complacent, I think. And I am, too. I shouldn't be here, mingling with all these people, making them attached to me... It will hurt me. And them. Both of us. I stop in the doorway, watching Lucy speak to the crowd that's converged around her, smiling and laughing and having a good time. I should not be the one to end it all for them. I turn around, facing the window of the infirmary, and march towards it purposefully, pulling the latch and yanking it open. A blast of stale summer air hits my face; I brace my hand against the ledge and propel myself away from the Mages, away from their laughs and playful punches, away from Lucy.


	3. Lies And Deceit

Magnolia is always pretty quiet, but my ears are buzzing with the sound of my own stomach. I clench it, willing it to stop growling, but it seems to growl even louder to spite me. I sit in one of its darker alleys, as far from Fairy Tail as I could get running on empty, biting my lip so hard it drew blood twice and stained my vest and the dirt with it. When I finally manage to stop thinking of my gnawing hunger, I begin thinking of Lucy. Her face, her smile, her laugh, her eyes...

I jam my fist into my cheek, hard enough to make my teeth shake. I need to stop thinking of her. She can have a good human life, find a human to settle with; being with me will literally be her downfall, so even if I did, by a misdemeanor of fate, become infatuated with her, then I would have to grin and bear it. That is how I keep people safe - by hurting myself.

I don't know how long I sit there before it begins to rain. Fat drops fall on me, dousing my hair and soaking my clothes through. Usually, the rain doesn't bother me because the superfluous amount of heat that my magic produces keeps me warm, but my magic is low, and as such it's creating less fire and therefore less body heat. Sadly, the alley is devoid of anything I can use to shelter myself, so I'm forced to brave the elements like a true dragon - or rather, like a true bitch, because I curl up and lie there with the rain pounding on me. I think I fall asleep at some point, because when I look up the rain has regressed into a slight drizzle and the dirt pathways are hardened into mud. I start to stand up but find it difficult; I use the wall to push myself to my feet. I can't make it much longer without  _something_  in my stomach.

"If it isn't Natsu Dragneel," a sardonic voice to my right says, "looking as forlorn as a lost puppy."

"How do you know my name?" I ask. Gray's hard expression lightens somewhat as he arches an eyebrow. I notice he has two umbrellas, one folded and one open over his head.

"How can I not? Lucy mentioned it a billion times already. What are you doing here?"

"Freezing," I say acerbically before I can stop myself. "Er, I mean, living. I am doing quite well."

"Yeah, I can tell when you're soaked through like that," Gray snorts. I start to say something back but a sneeze cuts me off. "Why'da leave anyway? Afraid I was going to get my comeuppance and kick your ass?"

"No..." I bite my lip. "I'm sorry; you should go back."

"I won't." Gray locks his eyes with mine. "As much as I hate it, you're part of Fairy Tail, even without the Guild's mark, and Fairy Tail doesn't leave its friends out in the cold. Literally." He holds out the folded umbrella but I shake my head.

"I don't have friends. Go away."

Instead, he folded his arms across his chest (still bare; I'm starting to think he doesn't know what clothes are). "Being adamant about it doesn't help."

Really, two people calling me stubborn in the same day? And the irony still remains! "I don't know why people can't take my word for it when I say that I don't want friends."

"Because I see myself in you. Somebody that's been through Hell. And that's not a burden you can bear alone."

That strikes me speechless. "Come on," he says. "Give me a reason why you would rather sit in the rain than be in Fairy Tail. Is it that bad?"

"No..." My voice is quiet. "It's exactly the opposite. You guys are far too nice for me. I do not want to hurt you all."

Gray, apparently under a misapprehension, indicates his slightly-bruised jaw. "You ain't hurt me. This is nothing."

"That's not what I mean, though I am sorry for it." I turn away. "I am sorry, Gray, but I can't come back. I can't risk the lives of such good people. Tell Lucy that, please."

"Why don't you?" he snorts.

"Gray, I'm serious. I'm not adamant, nor am I a fool. I cannot be with you all - I just can't, okay?" Somehow, my voice rises to a shout. " _Just leave me alone, damn it!_ " My control snaps and a burst of fire comes from my mouth. Gray stumbles backwards but isn't fast enough. It gets him in the chest before dissipating in the air. My eyes widen at the long scorch mark it leaves. He's momentarily stunned, clenching his chest, and before he catches my eye again I turn and use a few crates as trampolines, lurching to the nearest house's roof and running away as fast as I possibly can on an empty stomach.

Fuck it, fuck it, fuck it, fuck it, fuck it, _fuck it, FUCK IT!_

Somehow, I end up at Kardia Cathedral, and I collapse on the roof of one of its spires. The rain is still falling, washing away my sweat, and I'm breathing so hard it hurts. I'm not doing myself any favors by working with no fuel, neither am I by doing so much physical activity after running like a madman through a house fire, tossing debris and shrapnel like toys. Despite the drizzling rain fire puffs out of my nose with each exhale. I cover it, stricken. Damn it, I think.

"Natsu," a familiar high-pitched voice whines. "Natsu, are you okay?"

I look up and find my little friend hovering above me worriedly. Happy - that's the name I've given him, because he rarely is ever morose, unlike myself - is an acquaintance of mine. Though I've never verbally expressed how much I enjoy his company, his gifts of fish when I'm out starving on the streets, his capricious antics, I do somewhat think of him as a friend, but the curse prevents me from making it known to him. Instead, I try to avoid him as much as possible, but yet, he finds me always. Kneeling on the ground, I feel utterly hopeless, hopeless enough to snatch him from the air, staring him in his wide eyes.

"Happy," I say breathlessly; he continues staring at me, surprised. I've never been friendly with him before, so my actions are confusing him. I want to say it - "You are my best friend" - but when I open my mouth no words come out. The fear still holds me back, even though I'm unsure if the curse affects beings from other universes. (I've heard that cats like Happy, who can walk and talk and fly, are things called Exceeds from another world called Edolas.) "I wish I wasn't this way," I say impetuously. "I wish I could have just one damn friend without being afraid of..." My voice cracks and fails.

Happy, not understanding, tears up. "Natsu, what are you talking about?" he pleads. "I am your friend, right?"

I want to agree. I want to agree so badly it hurts.  _Shit_. I'm a dragon, I'm a dragon in title and magic and ancestry, but somehow I'm cursed with human emotions, cursed to love and hate and hurt and grieve, cursed to always be afraid of making a single friend. I want to-no, I  _need_  to join Fairy Tail. The urge is so strong it burns. To have a place to call home, a building to stay in when it's pouring like this, a place with food and beds and-and Lucy. But I can't, because then they'll get attached to me, and they will...!

I release Happy hurriedly. "I'm sorry," I say, looking at my feet. The rain continues to spill down my face; I can't tell if I'm crying.

"Natsu..." He flutters up and lands on my head. "Your hair is soft."

I look at his tail swinging to and fro in front of my face. After a few seconds it stops moving as he seemingly falls asleep. I start to touch him then yank my hand back. Then I sit there in silence as the rain floods the city.

"Natsu!" Lucy calls. I'm so out of it that I at first perceive her voice as a dream. Then the concentrated smell of food wafts through the damp air and I realize that it's real. I shake myself out of my stupor and look at the ground; she's walking through the mud of the pathways, an umbrella in one hand despite the very faint drizzle that the rain has regressed into, and a picnic basket in the other that is creating the succulent scents that woke me up earlier. My stomach growls like Igneel used to, which is to say that it is very loud. "Natsu, where are you?"

I impetuously swing myself off the spire, climbing down the cathedral to land on the ground right behind her. Before I'm even aware of what I've done Lucy turns around, hearing the squishing sound my sandals make in the mud. "I've been looking for you," she says, her Lucy smile set on her face. "Why did you leave?"

I can't do anything but look at the picnic basket in her hand. "That... That's a fire Lacrima in there, isn't it?" I ask, a slight tremor in my voice. I'm so fucking hungry that only the infinitesimal blot of my patience keeps me from mowing her over and taking the basket like a wild animal.

"And real meat," she says. I reach for it but she backs away. "Not until you tell me why you left."

"I already told you-" another grab, miss, "-that I'm  _cursed_. I won't risk the Fairy Tail Mages' lives."

"But you're not a bad guy. You ran through a building on fire to save my life."

"It's not about intent, Lucy. The curse acts of its own mind and volition in no regards to my own. It takes away everything I care for..." It almost took you, I almost say, but catch myself at the last moment. "I cannot allow myself a single friend."

She pauses at that. "Where did the curse come from?" Her question is so straightforward that it catches me off guard.

"I...It was passed down. From my father." I did lie to Makarov earlier, when he asked me of its origins; I couldn't help it. It was a reflex from beign secretive for so many years.

She opens her mouth to ask another question but I tackle her before a word escapes, throwing both of us to the ground. I take the basket from her hand easily; she's too stunned to fight back. "I got you, Luce," I say. She blinks twice, then a smug smile crosses her face.

"Luce," she repeats. I flush terribly, pushing off of her and to my feet.

"Lucy," I correct a bit too hastily. "Lucy, I mean. Shit."

"How did your father get cursed?" she asks as I shove fire Lacrimas in my mouth in an attempt to hide my embarrassment. I swallow hard, touching my temple.

"It's not a story I like to recount," I say. "It has been there since the War - you know, the one between dragons and humans. It is the fault of the most evil dragon in existence."

"And that is?"

The Lacrimas suddenly fell heavy in my stomach. I do not want to say its name; I never want to see that beast again. I've only seen it once, once as it wrecked my home. Once as it fought my father. Once as it sprayed Igneel's blood over me, the same way it sprayed human and dragon blood over its once human body. Then it said to me the words I will never, ever forget.

_As your father before you, all those who dare love a beast such as yourself will perish, die by the embers of your coveted Fire._

"Natsu?" Lucy whispers. I realize that I've begun crying. I use Igneel's scarf to dry my tears, turning away.

"All those who love a beast such as I will perish," I repeat, setting alight the dry fibers of the picnic basket. Its warmth is out of place in the chill air. "Perish by the embers of my Fire."

I hold the basket until its nothing more than a few charred shreds of wicker; I let them drift away in the wind. I turn back to Lucy to see she is crying in tandem with me - for what reason, I'm not aware. "Natsu..." She steps towards me; I step back.

"Why are you so stubborn?" I shout at her, causing her to tense in surprise. Suddenly I'm overtaken by pensiveness, my want to protect Lucy but also be with her coinciding, creating a burning pain in my chest that I can't stand. I  _have_  to protect her; I  _have_  to get her to stay away. "Why are you so set on bringing me with you? I do not want to go to Fairy Tail. I do not want to be with them, and I absolutely-" my throat clenches but I force the acidic words through derisively, "-and I absolutely do not want to be with you!  _I hate you!_ "

The conviction in my words is unambiguous, despite the tears still staining my cheeks. I've put all my fury, my regret, my self-loathing behind my invective, trying to coerce my body into saying the words that it absolutely does not believe in. It hurts; it tangibly aches my soul and being to be as ruthless as to send her back, crushing her attachment to me, but I can't risk her life. Not her. Not Lucy.

Lucy stares at me for a solid ten seconds as if she cannot believe her own ears. "What?" she whispers.

"I hate you," I repeat, even though the words corrode my tongue with their untruthfulness. "I hate you Lucy."

More tears pour down her cheeks; it is a monumental effort to not rescind my words at this very moment, to impugn myself by contravening my "dislike" of her, but I cannot. Like I have been doing for my whole life, I have to hurt myself in order to protect others. Lucy opens her mouth and shuts it again, over and over, as if words have failed her as they have I. Then she turns and runs away, taking with her the one bit of my heart that isn't completely hopeless.


	4. Reunion And Reconciliation

I look up at the moon, wondering how I've gone from pondering its consistent similarity to looking at it and wishing I'm up there instead of here on Earth, forced to live in the same city as Lucy. Things have taken such a drastic turn from yesterday that my head spins as I try to figure it all out. I've told Lucy I hate her, an action that makes me want to hang myself. I've denied my feelings towards others but I have never outright tried to change them so haphazardly - especially when I harbor the same or even greater feelings towards that person. I broke Lucy's heart; whether she liked me (a far-fetched concept) or simply wanted to be my friend, I've completely severed that connection, however minute, and in doing so, have shattered both our hearts.

I press my hand against my chest, checking for the tenth time in the last minute for my beating heart. It feels so hollow inside that at times I forget that I am still living, still breathing. I won't say that I love her - though, I realize, I'm getting dangerously close to that border - but she is my friend, with her adamant attitude and audacity and, holy shit, her Lucy smile, the smile that's so nice and innocent and sincere I have to comply to her commands. And I sent that away. Even the thought of her being safe isn't enough to fill the space that has centered itself in my chest.

Before I know it, before logic caught up with the imprudent orders my brain sent my feet, I'm running down the road, trekking the same path I took earlier to Fairy Tail. I stop myself, but not before I'm within smelling distance of the Guild. I recognize Lucy's scent immediately and it smells like...sadness. Very, very profound sadness.

I walk the few extra feet and turn the corner that leads to the front gate of the Guild. The doors are closed but my super-hearing picks up on the voices inside. Despite myself, I press myself against the wall, painting a mental picture of what's happening by the scents and sounds that escape, comparing them to my initial view of Fairy Tail and its Mages.

"You're alright, Gray?" the redheaded Mage asks. He's sitting at one of the tables, his chest bandaged. My heart clenches; if I hurt him...

"'Course," Gray replies irritably. I don't think that guy has a good side. 'Ass' is probably his permanent setting. "That Hothead just caught me by surprise, then he ran away like a little bitch. Damn, if he had stayed, I would've turned him into a human Popsicle."

I can't help but snort at that.

"How about you, Lucy?" the Mage asks. Lucy's smell is hard to detect; it seems that a lot of Guild members are gathered around her, creating an amalgam of scents that are so finely tuned I cannot distinguish one from another. I have to determine it all by voice instead. "You've been quiet ever since you returned. What happened?"

"Natsu-" she breaks off; her voice is thick, like she cried a lot. Oh, Lucy. "He says he doesn't want to come back here. Doesn't want to be with you guys. Doesn't want to be with me. He said..." I smell her grief now, overwhelming all other scents with its potency. "He said he hates me."

I take a hard breath; suddenly my throat feels constricting. Hearing her say it back makes it... It makes it so much more real what I've done, the lie I've told to protect her. Even though I have saved her life by severing our connection, even someone like me, oblivious to humanity's emotions, can tell that her life is still broken. I've once heard a phrase, that it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all, but doing this, it seems a pathetic excuse for breaking hearts.

I turn away before I can hear any more and start running down the road. Tears pricks at my eyes but I hold them back automatically, remembering Igneel chastising me for being such a crybaby. I stop on Lucy's old block, with the charred remains of her apartment and the other homes in the vicinity. It's my fault - it's my fucking fault, and I did the right thing by leaving her. She'll be safe. She'll be  _safe_.

But I don't want her to be safe, my heart says, defying all the logic I've been abiding for for my whole cursed life. I want her to be here. With  _me_.

Frustration and grief war inside of me; I let out a great bellowing roar, releasing as much magic as possible in one burst. My flames are like the Sun, briefly illuminating the whole city. As the last of the embers dissipate I brace my hands on my knees, fatigued from the effort but having expelled the greater majority of my frustration. That just leaves the grief, eating at my insides until I feel as hollow as the space in my heart. "Shit!" I shout, slamming my fist against the post of a bridge. The whole bridge wobbles and shakes in response. "I wish I didn't have to hurt Lucy! I wish I wasn't cursed!"

"Is that so?" someone behind me says. I cover my nose irritably; I'm getting out of touch, not being able to sense strangers anymore. "Would you give anything to get rid of your curse?"

I think, as I turn around, that my sense of smell had nothing to do with my not sensing this person, because his whole demeanor reeks of inconspicuousness. His face is mostly hidden by a mask, though I can discern strange red markings underneath his eye, partly hidden by his cerulean fringe. "It is permanent," I say. "Permanent unless I kill the one who set the curse."

The Mage takes one more step forward, a long magical staff in hand. Suddenly I am overcome by lethargy, more potent than the one caused by magical exhaustion. It tastes like Sleep Magic, and though it is far from sufficient to overwhelm my natural dragon energy, it is enough to have me stunned and immobile in my spot. "That is, if you're going by the logic of Earthland curses," he says, almost derisive in tone.

"What...are you insinuating...?"

"That for a price, I can allow you the life that you covet," the Mage continues. He's a foot away now, so close that I can finally catch his scent; it is very similar to Happy's in undertone, which would be a slightly lemony tang.

"Edolas," I murmur.

"That is very astute of you, Natsu Dragneel." He kneels down until we're eye-level; I realize that I've sunken to my knees, somnolence locking my muscles.

"What...price?" I ask, fighting to keep my eyes open. I do not know if he is releasing the Sleep Magic on purpose, to make me conformable, or if it's an automatic mechanism.

"Nothing you hold in great value," he says passively, vaguely. "Do we have a deal, Natsu?"

I brace my hands against the ground, forcing my head up, steeling my will against his magic, though it's becoming harder and harder. I want to say yes because it's the easy way out - surely, he would leave me alone if I do - but I know that the deal is not as saccharine as he makes it out to be. I know intrinsically that nothing can be as flawless as he displays it as.

"No...way..." My will flickers and my consciousness begins to fade in and out. The Mage lets out a small sound of annoyance before rising up and leaving without another sound or word.

When I come to, it's still night, so I am sure I haven't been asleep very long. I give a tentative sniff and grimace; that Mage's scent is long gone. Absolutely perfect.

I rise slowly, trying to shake some life into my stiff limbs, when I notice a different scent in the air, one that tastes like cologne and desperation with a bit of soap suds - eau de Celestial Spirit, and not the good one either. He is reclining against one of the still-intact homes, arms crossed over his chest, eyes blazing behind his glasses. I stay silent for several moments, watching him stare daggers through me, before I clear my throat, "Is something, er, the matter?"

"You broke her heart," he says, not missing a beat. I shift on my feet, half out of uneasiness and half out of lingering somnolence.

"I had to get her away from me," I protest, but my voice is not passionate, not convicted. "I had to say  _something_."

"Well, you sure as hell didn't do anything good." Loke stands up straight, dropping his arms to his sides. "All you did was hurt yourself and her."

"I know. I  _know_ , damn it. You don't have to remind me, Loke."

"And you're going to leave things as they are?"

I clench my head, grinding my teeth together. "I don't know. I  _don't know!_ You don't understand! No matter how much I want things to be otherwise, I am cursed, and I cannot have a single friend. Not even Lucy."

"But you've noticed it, haven't you?" he asks. "That she hadn't died?"

The scar flashes back into memory. "It was a fluke," I say halfheartedly. "Maybe she has an innate inclination to Healing Magic. I don't know. But it is not humanly possible to recover from a wound like that - it wasn't superficial, it went straight through her. Hell, one of her Spirits could have healed her. But I don't put her in danger with the assumption that a one-time thing is permanent."

"Then what if it is?" His words cause me to hesitate. "What if it is permanent, and Lucy can, somehow, not die?"

For a crazy minute, my heart thunders wildly with that hope. "Even so, I do not want to subject her to the constant pain of being injured, whether or not she does heal afterwards. I only hurt; I cannot help. I cannot love."

Loke sighs. "I'm not saying that you should endanger everybody you meet," he says, meeting my eyes. "But should you constantly be breaking your own heart? Some damage cannot be repaired."

My hands ball into fists at my sides. "No matter what, I have to protect everyone. I made that promise when Igneel died. No matter what - even if my heart is to shatter into a trillion microbes, never to be seen again - I will not take another life." Wendy's blackened face flashed into my mind; I repress it, clamping my jaw shut. Loke bows his head for a moment with a sigh.

"I digress. What I came here to do is to tell you to find Lucy and tell her that you lied."

"No," I say, much too quickly. "She was already too attached to me."

"Whether she loves you or not, you really did break her heart, and as her best friend I can't stand seeing her like that."

"Or is it because in reality you love her?" I goad. His eyebrow twitches, but I do give him props for keeping his expression straight.

"Yes. Yes, I do," he says, undaunted. "Now, let me ask you a question: if you weren't cursed, then what would you do with Lucy?"

That catches me off guard. I really don't know what I would do. "Touch her," I say without thinking. "Touch her to confirm my beliefs that she's there, alive, and I could do whatever I pleased without worrying about her dying."

Loke makes a small sound in the back of his throat, so reminiscent of a lion's growl that I tense up, but his face remains the same. "Alright, then," he says vaguely.

"What? Why did you ask me that?"

"No reason." His smug smile says otherwise. "But look, you should go clear things up with her, because I hate to see her looking so broken."

"One more thing," I interrupt. "Did you see the Mage that was here?"

He furrows his eyebrows. "A Mage? What did he look like?"

"He...er..." I grind my fist into my temple with a growl. His face, indistinct as it was, is hard to discern. He could have used a Memory Magic charm on me, or it is an added effect of the Sleep Magic. "I don't remember, but he said he could break my curse without killing the source."

"That's impossible."

"The way he said it indicates he means a method outside of Earthland."

Loke thinks for a moment. "I can't be sure that's possible. I've seen the curse in action - don't be put-off, but I've known you a lot longer than you think - and its intricacies seem to complicated for something besides just cutting the head of the beast. Literally."

"Wait, you  _knew_  me?"

"We met about thirteen years ago; I was a witness to the curse's first effects in you. I knew Igneel a bit from my excursions to the human world and I've always known that he had a sort of darkness about him. Then it became apparent that it was slowly leaving him and entering you, draining his vitality as it happened." He shrugged. "I don't know much after that, because I became contracted and didn't have as much time to flip between worlds, but I heard a while later that he had died. Sorry."

"Why didn't you tell me before, that you knew me?"

"What good would it have done? I knew Igneel better; we did not know each other very well. On my visits, he would ask if I had found another way of breaking the curse. He was afraid for you, you know, that he would kill you. But every time I didn't have a solution. Then your...you know, parents died, and he fled, wanting to protect you even though it would hurt you to see him suddenly disappear. But you continued to love him, even when that love led him to his demise." He eyes me. "Sound familiar?"

Scathingly so.

"You can't protect her by hurting her, because feelings cannot be so easily severed. Lucy isn't capable of hate, you see. After a while she will recover and try to get you back, and if you tell her you hate her again the situation will repeat itself constantly. You want that?"

I shake my head no.

"Then fix your problem."

"I don't know about being a Celestial Spirit," I say, "but you'd make one hell of a life coach."

He raises his eyebrows, giving me a sarcastic snort before disappearing.

I find Fairy Hills, Fairy Tail's female dormitory, fairly easy, the majority of the Guild's females' scents leading up to it. Besides, it isn't very far from the actual Guild. I start to approach the doors but stop; it's a  _female_  dorm, I think. There's no way I can walk inside so casually. I look around at its long interior wall - the center of its 'H' shape - and see double rows of windows showing the inside of the rooms. Most of them are curtained, of course, but I see two or three that are open. I inhale deeply; Lucy's scent is strongest at the second window from the right, second floor. As I move closer I realize that that window is closed; I rub my hands together in anticipation.

I move to the side of the building to the right pillar outside of the lobby, digging my fingers into the bricks. My body heat causes the material to melt slightly, allowing my fingers to find purchase in the freshly-made grooves. I scale the pillar easily and land on the porch's tile roof; at the last moment I miscalculate the minor jumping distance from the pillar to the roof and my foot skids over the edge. The fall itself isn't troubling but I lack the dexterity to make a silent, graceful landing; I would wake up every living soul in the dormitory. I spin my arms in a wild attempt to regain my lost balance before an obvious fact comes to punch me in the face.  _I have Fire Magic, duh._

I bend my arms and blast flames from my elbows. The air repelled by it creates a force equal to gravity working on my body, slowly righting myself. I only hope nobody noticed the brief light they created. I cross the length of the roof silently until I'm underneath Lucy's window. I see that the one next to hers is open - I have to be careful to not show up. I reach up to grab her windowsill, pulling myself up while simultaneously thanking Igneel for making me do all that upper body training that I loathed years prior. Using one hand to keep myself up, I press my right hand flat against the glass of the window, spiking my internal temperature until the glass hisses like an agitated snake, turning to liquid against my palm. I slip my hand through the hole and unlatch it, pushing it up to fit my whole body through.

Lucy's room is plain with a wooden floor and white walls. Her bed is in the corner opposite of my position. I ghost across the floor, listening to her incoherent mutters as she tosses and turns on the bed. As I grow closer I realize that her cheeks are glistening and I repress the urge to pull her into my arms in response. "Lucy," I say, my voice low.

She sits up so suddenly that I believe she has been awake, then her eyes droop and dull and I realize she's still half-asleep. "Natsu?" she murmurs. Then shakes her head, "No, Natsu hates me. He wouldn't be here."

"I am here," I say. She looks at me again.

"This is the girls' dorm, Natsu," she says blearily.

"I don't care. I came because I had to tell you something." I step closer, wrapping my fingers around her wrist. That seems to catch her attention; her eyes light up a fraction more.

"What is it?"

"I don't hate you." The words are hard to say - I've become so used to suppressing my feelings that it is an actual effort to speak them. "I don't hate you at all, Lucy. In fact-" I choke off. Her eyes widen expectantly.

"In fact, what?"

"In fact..." Suddenly my own body heat is too much for me to take. I release her, pressing my palms against the wall, bowing my head against my chest. I take several deep breaths to calm myself, still in awe at how Lucy, by merely being  _Lucy_ , can get me so flustered I can't form two coherent thoughts in the same breath. "Er, erm, in fact, I would do any-urk!-thing for you." My voice is more strained than usual and a few notes higher.

"Anything?" she echoes, a trace of a smile on her lips.

"Anything," I repeat, wishing my embarrassment to vanish already. "Anything."

"Sleep with me," she says. "For the night. If you're here, the bad dreams won't come." [Don't get ideas either; I literally mean  _next_  to her, not  _with_  her.]

"What?" I exclaim, then quickly clap a hand over my mouth to lower my voice. I don't hear a response from the other rooms, so I continue, "You can't mean that, Lucy!" Red races up and down my cheeks and neck, not sure where to make my embarrassment present. "I'm a guy-and you're a girl-"

"Please," she pleads, and I silence at the deep sadness that settles in her eyes. I know that look all too well - it is the one I see in my eyes often. I acquiesce and sit on the edge of the bed, though I stiffen when I take a good look at it; it's a single-person bed, meaning that to sleep together I would have to be within hair's width of her. I tense as she lies down, facing me expectantly with tired eyes. Maybe if she falls asleep, I can leave. "Natsu," she urges with a petulant tone. It doesn't look like she's going to sleep without me.

Damn it.

I kick off my sandals and stretch my legs out on the bed. Because of our height difference her face presses against my chest. She balls up fistfuls of my vest, inhaling me. "Charcoal and musk," she whispers. I feel a cold wetness against my bare skin. "Don't leave me, Natsu."

Slowly, almost methodically, I put my arms on her back; she relaxes a minuscule amount. "I won't," I promise. "I won't."

After a few moments Lucy's breaths, hitched by crying, even out, and she becomes limp against me. I press my nose into her hair, inhaling her scent. Every cell in my body is telling me to leave now, don't let her get attached, but my body itself is unresponsive, and my lethargic mind finally releases itself from my worries of my curse and allows me to sleep, unhindered, with Lucy.


	5. Natsu's Story

I wake up the next morning incredibly stiff. It was too uncomfortable sleeping on the small bed with-

Shit.

Lucy is still pressed into me, her hands wound tightly into my vest. I wrap my fingers around hers and am momentarily surprised at how dwarfed her hand is in comparison; she is a slight, fragile thing, which still leaves the question of how she survived that wooden spike. For a moment, I clench her hand tighter in mine, deep in thought. It's very obvious that she has feelings for me, but I can't for the life of me figure out what I feel for her. Though that's far from the problem; the curse has a mercurial way of dealing with things, sometimes waiting a day and sometimes waiting weeks to make its move. I cannot tell if it plans on causing a swift death or a torturous one, it is so capricious in its ways. Even so, I do not want to waste any moments I have with Lucy and the others worrying about it. I've realized that this sleep, the one I had with a friend, is the most peaceful one I've had in thirteen years. Because of her.

"Lucy," I murmur into her hair. Then I carefully pry her fingers from my vest and sit up. The last thing I want to do is move but I have to, before I do something I'll regret. As much as I hate to admit it, I am an animal, driven by innate urges; putting myself in a situation like that, pitting logic against instinct, I know what the losing side will be. And as much as I would like to (though I would not admit this to the lion, because I'm afraid he would call his legions of Zodiac against me) I do not want to hurt either of us like that.

I slip on my sandals and start towards the window; upon looking through I immediately freeze in my tracks. The Mages are up and about, wandering the grounds carelessly. I must have slept longer than I realize; it seems like half of Fairy Hills' population is out there. There's no fucking way that I'll make it through without being caught, and no matter how one looks at it, I'm in the wrong. And then they'll figure out that I was here all night and-oh, God. I cover my face for a moment. I don't know mortification much, but I get the feeling that I'll learn the emotion soon enough if I don't get out of here quickly and surreptitiously.

"Mmm," Lucy murmurs, sitting up. My heart leaps into overdrive and I mentally scold myself for getting flustered, even though all I've been doing so far is getting flustered when she so much as blinks at me. And with the events of the previous night, I feel like a babbling moron. I probably am too. She rubs her eyes, blinks several times, then looks at me. Red blooms across her cheeks and for the first time since I've met her, Lucy is embarrassed. "Nat-Natsu," she says, covering her face. "We really... I didn't dream that, did I?"

"No." I sound more confident than I feel.

"You...?" She turns away for a minute, then fixes her large eyes on mine. Confusion murks the brown surfaces. "Why are you turning red?"

I pull at my collar, backed into a corner. "It happens when I get, er, overheated." That much is true; sometimes my flames build inside of me and nearly burst out of my skin in attempt to release themselves. This time, however, the flames are building for a much different reason, though I exclude it from my explanation. I take a few breaths to calm down before asking, "You're okay, however? You seemed sad last night."

She rubs her eye, frowning at her hand. "I told you before that I don't have anybody to go back to at home, right?"

"Yes."

"My mom died when I was still a child. Because of that, my father seemed to withdraw further from me. Then..." She looks up at me. "The night that I met you, I found out that he had lost our home. Heartfilia Konzern became nothing. He... He tried to get money out of me, and he got mad when I said I didn't have enough. You see, I had run away from home long ago. I never told my father anything; I simply left in search of Fairy Tail. Seeing him, I wanted to reconcile, but... That night, he left, things worse off between us."

"I'm sorry, Lucy."

She smiles weakly. "It's alright, Natsu." Suddenly realization crosses her face, then anger, an emotion that I thought I'd never see on her delicate features. "Wait, this is the female dorm."

"Oh, it is?" I say. "I thought it was the male's. I've noticed a lack of balls around here, but I shook it off."

"This isn't funny, Natsu! If someone sees us like this-!" She flashes a very deep scarlet. I chuckle a little at that; I don't think I've seen that many emotions flutter across her face yet. "I said it's not funny!"

"It is, a bit, considering the certain situation." I stiffen, hearing soft footsteps coming up the hall, then getting the strong, pungent scent of booze. "Someone's coming!" I hiss, dropping to the floor and crawling under the bed. She throws the sheet over the side to hide me from view; I'm in an awkward position, crushing my stomach against the floor because the bed is too low for me to be under in the first place.

The door opens and I see sandals stroll in, a little wobbly. The smell of alcohol gets stronger until I feel inebriated just from sniffing it. It takes all my effort not to make a sound. "Hey, Lucy,  _hiccup_!" the new girl says. "You feelin' alright?"

"Yeah, I'm much better Cana, thanks," Lucy says. Her voice is a bit stressed.

"You know, we could  _hiccup!_  find that Natsu and  _hiccup!_  teach him a lesson for ya."

"No, no, I'm good."

Better be, I think a bit irately. My hands begin to shake and I tense, curling them into fists. Shit. It's physically impossible for me, a dragon, to be compressed this way. I'll fucking snap if I'm stuck under here any longer. I can't even convene this to Lucy without alerting Cana's attention, so I hope she'll wrap things up quickly.

"And anyway, I'm about to get dressed, so you should get going."

"Aw,  _hiccup!_  we're all girls here. Don't mind me."

"Er, you're wrong about that," Lucy mutters so low only I can hear it. Well, barely hear it, because blood starts pounding in my ears. Stuck, she moves to the dresser and pulls it open. Then I see her drop her loose white shirt on the floor, followed by her pink shorts. They are shortly followed by a small pair of panties.

_Holy shit!_

"Hey, do you hear that?" Cana asks as she moves to the bed. Before I can open my mouth she sits on it, dropping its small crawlspace to suffocating dimensions. The underside of the bed crushes into my back and squashes my diaphragm. My breath comes out in a silenced rush. "It sounds kind of like a fast heartbeat."

"No, I don't hear it," Lucy says, the stressed note of her voice rising. I would mentally berate her for her inability to lie if oxygen was still travelling to my brain, but right now I'm having trouble gasping. There's Cana, crushing my lungs, coupled with the prospect of a naked Lucy in the same room with me, uniting to asphyxiate me. I hear the sound of a zipper, then Lucy's Keys jingling. "Let's go to the Guild, Cana," she says.

"One sec,  _hiccup!_ " I hear paper rustling, then I feel the strange sensation of wind building behind me. "Card Magic: Gust!"

A blast of air hits me in the back, throwing me from under the bed and flat on my back in the center of the room. Cana, a tall girl with tan skin and dark curls, smirks at me, waving a card in the air. "I knew you were under there," she says, suddenly sober. "You have an unforgettable smell of charcoal and meat."

"You knew I was there. But you  _sat on me_."

Cana grinned. "It was funny."

My breath comes out hard through my nose in the form of thick dark smoke. Patience is a virtue that I, as aforementioned, have not been gifted with, and neither is that of a long-fuse temper. That, with my lack of inhibitions with attacking women, does not spell out a preferable fate for Cana. Lucy, sensing my unrest, takes my hand in hers. "Natsu, please," she says in my ear. "Don't hurt Cana."

The normal, mentally-stable Natsu would have rebutted her wish with an angry reply such as "I'm a dragon, I cannot be told what to do, just as the sky cannot be told when to rain. If she pisses me off, so be it!" But it is Lucy, the one who sets my mental stability whirring away faster than I can take hold of, and I reply, "Alright," as meekly as is possible for me. God, she has me as a bitch's whelp. It is some form of magic; it  _has_  to be, because I'm far too recalcitrant to be manipulated this way. It has to be some kind of charm this girl is employing to have me concede to her whims!

The only person that I knew who could get me straight was Igneel, and his methods were unambiguous; he beat the shit out of me until I did things his way and beat the shit out of me if I complained. Though I will never admit to it being a productive approach, it did condition me into the person I am now. I wouldn't be as strong and brave as I am if Igneel hadn't done what he did to make me into a man. That being said, I associate  _control_  with anger and reprimanding, not soft words and subtle looks and smiles. It is a complete turn-around from what I'm used to, so much that I'm nothing short of baffled as to how Lucy can so easily placate me every time.

"Aw, the dwaggy listens to mommy," Cana coos, producing a booze bottle seemingly from nowhere. I snarl and snap my teeth, a gesture that would be scarier if I had jaws instead of rounded human teeth. Lucy squeezes my hand and I immediately silence. Cana rises and moves to the door, smirking at me triumphantly. "Be a good little bitch to your master, Natsu," she hums as she opens the door. This time, I lunge at her, stopped in mid-stride by Lucy pulling me backwards.

"Whatever." I go to the window and hoist it open.

"Where are you going, Natsu?"

"Away."

"Natsu, Fairy Tail-"

"I keep telling you," I say, "that I cannot make friends."

"I'm your friend, and I'm fine." She looks at me expectantly. "I'm your friend, right?"

I brace my hands on the windowsill, bowing my head. I don't know the answer myself, if she is simply a companion - or something else entirely.

"Natsu." I feel her hands on my back. "Tell me about your curse. Please."

I grip the window so hard that my knuckles lose all color. Then I sigh. "You are aware of the war between dragons and humans, long ago?"

"Yes."

"My father, he was a dragon, you see. His name was Igneel. He was fighting for the humans then, and fight he did; none could match his flames, which were so great even the dragon composed of fire, Atlas Flame, could not manage."

"I don't understand that," she interrupts. "Sorry for interrupting your story, but I don't understand how you're a dragon but you look like a human."

" _Dragon_  is not only species but a title as well. I told you the first time we met that dragons are unique for being able to draw magic from the One Magic, making our magic very powerful and incomparable to that of humans. As I was saying, Igneel was one of the strongest dragons out there. Then eventually, he found his match, that being the most malevolent, supercilious, and scariest dragon to ever exist. Its name is Acnologia." As I said its name the room chilled a few degrees. "Igneel told me their story. They fought for three days straight with no change, none gaining and none falling. Then, Igneel made one decisive blow, charring him with his flames. Acnologia was incapacitated, but not for long."

"Then what?" she breaths, her breath a mere whisper on my neck.

"It didn't appreciate being beaten. It cursed my father then. It is the same curse that I bear now. Because of this, he threatened away those who tried to approach him. Though that could not repel me, a lonely child that wandered the woods."

"You didn't have parents?"

"I did," I say. "He was friends with them."

"Oh." Then she realizes and her voice drops. "Oh."

"He didn't mean to. They were the first humans that he could befriend after so many years. He was drawn to them as I am to you. He loved their stories of humanity and love, things he spared himself from. Then they had me, and not long after, the village they were in caught fire from a few rogue Fire Mages. They were the only casualties.

"Igneel felt bad about it, but worse because he had put himself in a predicament. There was me, their child, without family, without a way of protecting myself. He didn't want to have me befall their fate; however, what else was there than to leave me to die in the forest? He took me in as a surrogate father, teaching me to read, to write, to use magic. It's kind of funny, actually. If I concentrate as hard as I can, I still cannot manage to dredge up memories of my biological parents. Only Igneel.

"Then, after years of complacency, it returned. I had noticed strange things, though I never paid too much attention. The sagacity of a child is remarkable in many aspects, how we never fail to ask the most armor-piercing questions for adults. Adults can fabricate an explanation for any branch of the problem, yet when it comes to the problem and solution itself, they are at a loss. For me, it was the opposite; I never asked the right questions, and therefore, Acnologia's coming was a surprise to me to say the least. It seemed that my father had evaded his wrath for so many years, laying low as he did, but Acnologia found him, and a vindictive bastard he was, still fighting my father after cursing him. But this time he had grown soft from going from a ferocious dragon to a father, and Acnologia gained the upper hand by preforming one of the most underhanded methods: he tried to take my life.

"Igneel was stunned by this, and that moment was enough for Acnologia to bring him down. It slashed my father open and gutted him and eviscerated him, spraying his guts over my face. I was shell-shocked, glued to my spot, my eyes unblinkingly staring at the events transpiring. It turned my father into a dragon's carcass; then, just as I thought it couldn't get any worse, somehow, the dragon managed to set him alight with his own flames, as he had it. Then it turned to me, and it told me the words that would then on affect everything I do.

 _'As your father before you, all those who dare love a beast such as yourself will perish, die by the embers of your coveted Fire.'_ "

I turn to Lucy despairingly. "I had friends, as well," I say to her tear-streaked face. "One was a pretty young girl named Wendy, the daughter of another dragon, Grandine. She died in a forest fire. Then there was Gajeel, the son of the iron dragon Metallicana." I close my eyes. "He has a power to create scales of iron to protect his body. It became a liability when he chased a robber to a metalwork factory. His metal melted into his skin, contorting his body. It was a painful, painful demise." Eyes still closed, I reach out and grasp Lucy's arms, pulling her against me. "I do not want to hurt you," I whisper. "I do not want to be the cause of sadness for many, being your killer. That is why I cannot be with you, Lucy. I do not hate you - far from it, I only want to protect you. And you now know my curse and the death it brings to those who dare love a beast such as I."

I hear Lucy's sharp intake of breath and I open my eyes to see her soft lips form the beginning of a word. Before I can hear her, hear what she thinks of me, a monster, I hear another set of words, down on the first floor of the dormitory: "Watch out!" It's a yell, fervent and fearful. The sharp, biting scent of smoke fills my nose and I hear a deep rumbling settle in the foundation. I do not have time to warn her, to pull her out of the way, before the wood beneath our feet trembles in anticipation before submitting to the blast of hot, dark smoke that surges up, filling the room and blowing out the window and blinding us. Screams, muffled, rise in my ears, and I take a very deep breath, sucking in as much smoke as I can. I barely make a dent in the overall population before I begin coughing and gagging, stomach churning and head spinning, but I do clear my vision.

"Natsu!" Lucy says, stumbling on the now shaking floor. The wood snaps like rubber bands and she begins to fall; I throw myself to the ground and catch her before she does. She opens her mouth, preparing to shout another word, before a wave of heat assaults us both, throwing me backwards from the intensity. I scramble to my feet just as the heat dies out and the conflagration that precedes it rises like a geyser through the large hole in the floor, right on Lucy. I hear the impact of her body hitting the ceiling but cannot see through the haze of orange-golden flames. The ceiling cracks and shudders but does not give, with another blinding puff of choking smoke, the fire dies out. I pray Lucy does not suffer the same fate.


	6. "Lucy Is Alive"

The smoke is blinding me, the air is too acrid for me to catch a single scent among it, and there are still screams from others filling my ears. Starved of the senses that I've begun to rely on I lurch through the murk, throwing my arms out blindly. I've always thought of higher beings being a puerile way of bringing hope to the desolate and jaded, but right now I'm praying to whoever gives a damn that I can catch her.

My arms collide with something and I take a minute to discern it from the wall that I've probably hit, judging from the fist-sized knot forming on my head. For a terrifying minute, I can't feel skin at all as I begin to drop, the memory of the floor being blown out flashing back to me. Then I hear her pained whisper, "Nat-su-" and my heart kicks into overdrive, pumping white-hot adrenaline through my body like Igneel's flames, lighting my internal fire. The energy boost surges through my still languorous mind and creates a blazing conflagration that can barely be contained by my skin; it itches at it scratches me internally, begging to be released. In other, simpler words... I'm fucking fired up.

I land on the first floor hard enough to jar my teeth. The smoke, having originated here, is even thicker, turning everything around me pitch-black. The heap that I've already inhaled has me wobbly and unsure on my own two feet. I'm in no fighting condition but I'm much too vindictive to let this pass, and besides, I have to get out of here with Lucy. I stumble and slam into something hard that I immediately deem a wall. I hit said wall three more times before finally managing away from it. "Natsu," Lucy says again.

"Don't worry, Lucy. I'll get us out."

I feel her hand against my chest and tense. It has the same charred texture as Wendy's. The memories rise like a tsunami of grief, threatening to pull me under so deep that I would have no hope of rising again. I focus on the here and now instead and manage to quell them, though the here and now is not much less terrifying; I'm stuck in the flaming and smoky dorm with Lucy, who's most likely burned to a crisp, and though I can guess that she will die I can do nothing about it. As always, the curse is there to squelch whatever minute bit of illumination that flares among the dark sheet that is my life. There is a very fine, very thin threat that separates me, the empathetic Natsu, from the scarier prospect, which would be doesn't-care-at-all Natsu. Though I do feel, it causes me more angst than happiness, and sometimes I wonder if it is worth it to have emotions and be human, a part of the hate and sorrow that spins the world.

"It's your fault for not taking up my offer," a voice says, seemingly emanating from the darkness around me. Though I am still hazy on the incident last night I recognize it immediately.

"It's you," I snarl. "That Mage that tried to buy me into a satanic 'solution' for my curse."

"Ah, Natsu, skipping the pleasantries as always."

"I'll skip the ass-whooping too if you fix this and leave  _now_." I shift Lucy in my arms. "You can comply, or you can have me tear you limb-from-limb. I'm fine either way."

"But how, when you cannot even see me?"

"Oho, I'll find you. I can promise you that, you filthy rat."

"I doubt it. I am a master of the clandestine arts and you are Natsu Dragneel, a man without a single quiet bone in his body." His voice is at my shoulder now. "You cannot compare to me in the slightest."

I spin around but Lucy hampers my movement, making it slower, and my fist hits air. "She's a liability, isn't she?" he continues, this time a few feet to the east. "Why is it you are so fond of her that you would risk your life and hers?"

"I don't rightly know."

"What is it that you do know?"

"That you're a bastard that's pissing me off. Just clear this room out and show me the door before I show you the gates of Hell." His replying laughter makes me grind my teeth in anger.

"Really, if you would just accept my deal then you wouldn't have to spend your every day in fear. It really isn't that much of a price." Again, his voice is at my shoulder. I feel Lucy jerk; if he's touching her he's got something horrid coming from me.

"What  _is_  your price?" I do not want to know simply because I'm not interested but he seems exceptionally persistent, and it's becoming harder and harder to stand in the smoke-filled room. I've made it so far because my dragon lungs are acquainted to high concentrations of fire and smoke, but my body has its limitations. Any longer and I'll pass out, making me a prime target - and, worse, Lucy as well.

"Just your hate."

"My what?" I ask.

"All that negativity that you've been hoarding the past eighteen years. That's all."

"I don't know what kind of guileless bastard you take me for but I am not falling for that."

I blink and there it is; the Mage's red marks glowing out through the smoke like a beacon, a few feet away. I start towards it but find my feet responding erratically to my brain's commands. I'm not in a condition to give chase. "I can promise you that it is as I say. I'll take away your negativity and in exchange, the curse will be lifted. It's a sweet deal if you look at it, because I'm leaving your empathy and endearment. And-" Now his eyes are there, glinting in the dark. "If you don't agree, you can simply perish in here."

I don't want to. Though it is as he said, that he is simply taking my animosity, my instincts tell me that he's still playing me as a fool. But I do not have much of a say in the matter, because even if I can survive this, Lucy cannot. For all I know, she's already-

"No answer? Then I believe you are out of luck."

I spin around wildly but cannot see him, cannot perceive a body. As angry as I am, I cannot hit what I cannot see. But that doesn't mean I can't guess. I take a deep breath, recoiling when I remember that I'm inhaling smoke and not air, and release as much fire as possible. It comes out a mottled black instead of its usual red and orange, being fueled by smoke instead of oxygen, but it does manage to clear the air for a moment. I realize we're in a lobby, furniture and desk alight, and the door being blocked by a large piece of fallen concrete. I hear pounding from outside; Mages are trying to help but the concrete is too heavy, and I can guess that the outside has the same low level of visibility. Then I look down and gasp. My mind has a hard time staying in the present because Lucy's very charred body is too much like Wendy's. I adjust my arm to press my hand against her blackened chest.

No movement.

I fall on my knees, her body slipping from my hands. Shit.  _Shit_. "It's sad, isn't it?" This time I do see the Mage, his sandals coming into view as he crouches before Lucy. I clench my fist but can do little in retaliation; the fire used up the last of my energy, and though I did expel the greater majority of smoke from my body, I also used quite a bit of magic, and I am still inhaling smoke. It starts to return, darkening my vision terribly until I can hardly make out Lucy's figure. "If only you didn't have the curse..." he muses.

"Lucy," I whisper. My limbs are too deadened for me to reach for her. "Shit. It's my fault. It's my fault for getting attached to you. I shouldn't have come here at all. It's my fault."

"You know," the Mage says, "grief counts as negativity."

I clench my fists tightly at my sides. I don't deserve it; I don't deserve to not feel the sadness of taking another life. Yet...

"Ice Make: Bazooka!"

A  _boom!_  sounds just outside the door. The building, already on its last leg, trembles and crumbles further from the impact. Instinctively, I reach out for Lucy, but a piece of something - plaster or furniture, I can't tell - lands on my back, knocking me to the ground. In any other situation, the ground would be nearly devoid of smoke, but on the contrary, it's even thicker down here. I choke and gag, holding my throat. If there was light, then my vision would be spotty. I hear the Mage's disgruntled sigh.

"Who-" My throat burns with every sound. "Who-are you-?"

Another sigh. "If you do wish to remove your curse, then you can find me in Kardia Cathedral at exactly midnight. And in this world, I've adopted the name Mystgun."

I don't know if it's his Sleep Magic, or just my consciousness fading, but the next time I blink, he's completely gone. I hear "Ice Make: Bazooka!" outside once more before the next impact, and the concrete shatters as the doors fly off their hinges. The smoke swirls out in a rush, followed by a blast of headache-inducing sunlight, and I can just barely discern Gray from the chaos, holding a cannon forged of bluish ice. So maybe the Prick has some skill, I think peevishly with a small smile. "Where's the fire?" My voice comes out hoarse and unsteady; I really don't have much life left in me.

"Looks like you're the fire," Gray replies, the surprising amount of worry on his face dissolving into his characteristically smug smile. He kicks away the fallen debris and, with a small amount of effort, lifts me onto his back. I would protest belligerently but it's becoming a monumental effort to simply keep my eyes open. "Good thing you're alive." His voice softens a bit. "Everyone was scared that you wouldn't make it."

"Really?" I can barely hear my voice. A few seconds later I can't tell up from down or left from right. I close my eyes, still trying to figure out that damn Mystgun.

_"Natsu," she said. "What happened to you?"_

_I looked down at my blood-sullied hands, slowly clenching them into little fists. "Acnologia," I whispered, and Porlyusica caught the gist of what happened. She opened her door wider and I half-walked, half-limped inside, my bare feet leaving dark red footprints on the paved ground. I sat on the bed and she quickly came over, checking my arms and legs for injuries. They were fine with maybe two or three fractured bones; the real injury was in my mind, my heart._

_"I can make something to fix your bones quickly." She turned away, heading to her desk, creating a brew of various odd-smelling herbs. I buried my face in my arm, ignoring the pain. I wanted to cry, I wanted to cry and have all the grief and anger leave my body, but even then, I would've been nothing but a hollow shell. I had to feel, otherwise I would've been the equivalent of Acnologia, an unfeeling creature roaming the Earth with nothing less than mindless intent. I am not a killer, I tried to tell myself. But Acnologia's curse had come to pass moments after, it burning my father in his (my) flames. Because he loved me, because he tried to protect me, he was killed. It was my fault._

_I knew that Porlyusica was telling me something but her voice was only a thin buzz in my ears. Then her spindly fingers grasped my chin and forced my head up, tipping a wooden jar of something thick and viscous down my throat. I choked on its slimy texture, having to swallow several times to get it all down. Immediately, the pain in my bones dulls to a slight throb. "How does that feel?" she asked._

_"Better. Thank you, Porlyusica."_

_She looked at me pitifully. "I'm sorry, Natsu."_

_"For what?" I murmured, pressing my palms down hard on my thighs._

_"That my medicine cannot heal the heart."_

_I curled my fingers in until my nails broke the skin of my palms, fresh blood dribbling down my legs. "He's gone because of me. It's because he was trying to protect me that Igneel became weak, opened himself up to Acnologia. It was my fault. I should have died in his stead."_

_"Igneel is a fool, Natsu, of the mind but not of the heart. If he did sacrifice himself it's because he believed that your life outweighed his, that you are destined for more than he could accomplish." She smiled at me then. "He believed that out of all the humans he'd seen in a very long time,_ you _were a kid worth saving."_

_"But for what?" I shouted, forgetting that she wasn't the source of my problems. The tears that have been welling inside me finally spilled, streaming freely down my cheeks, tinged pink by the blood that adorned them. "I'm just a brat! I'm a five-year-old brat, Porlyusica! I can't even make a decent flame without it sputtering out! He tried to teach me, tried to make me stronger, and for what? In the end, I'm little above the average child. I'm not worth a hundreds-year-old dragon's life, I'm hardly a human life. You know what I am?" I don't wait for her to respond. "A killer. I'm a fucking killer."_

_I threw myself down on the bed, pulling the sheet over my head to hide myself as I wailed, thrashing and heaving. The grief was finally escaping, the reality of the situation filling me in return: Igneel was gone. Igneel was gone and I, in his place, had the curse. I could no longer make a friend. I had to be alone, I had to, otherwise... Otherwise people would die like him. And I didn't want to take another life. I stayed there crying, no memory of how long I spent there, until finally my sobs regressed into dry heaves as I ran out of tears. But still, I was there under the cover of her bed, while my body felt as a carcass scraped clean of everything. I couldn't feel anything but the numbness._ That _was_   _eternal_.

I drag my hands over my face with a groan. The last time that I had such pain was when Igneel had me keep up with him flying full-speed for five miles, but this pain is double that. Breathing alone is a herculean effort; I can't begin to think of how painful movement would be. Cracking my eyes open, I see that I'm back in Fairy Tail's infirmary. I deduce that by the lingering scent of antiseptic and blood, along with the familiar walls and ceiling. I don't dare move my head for fear of the agony it will bring.

Suddenly the events that led to my incapacitated state return to me in a bolt. "Lucy!" I shout, sitting bolt-upright. Pain shoots down my spine and stabs into my limbs in response; I double over with a low moan, clenching my sides, trying to keep my insides from bursting free and dribbling to the ground. A person I hadn't noticed in the corner chuckles, "You should be resting, you know."

I turn my head painfully and examine the figure sitting in the corner. It's the redheaded Mage, though in lieu of her armor she wears a cotton blouse and blue pleated skirt. Her right arm, left hand, and entire left leg are bandaged, and she smells slightly of burn ointment. And, now that I think about it, so do I, which is ironic for a  _Fire_  Dragon Slayer. "What?" I'm blindsided by pain, too much to really hear her words.

"After the fire - the nature of which is still ambiguous to us - we managed to bring both of you out. You were in bad shape, with some third-degree burns and your lungs being affected by so much smoke. Then there's Lucy, who..."

Unwilling to hear her say it, I lurch from the bed, ignoring the flare of pain that it brings in my legs, and start marching to the door, only to stop at the second bed. For a minute, I believe I'm dreaming and slam my fist into my cheek. The salty taste of blood fills my mouth and I reach an epiphany:  _I'm not dreaming_. What I see is really Lucy lying on the bed, chest rising and falling with steady breaths, her soft skin slightly pink but overall intact. I slap my hand to suppress the agitated giggle that's sure to rise from my throat.  _She's alive, she's alive, she's alive_. I know the Mage is saying something but I can't hear, I can only hear that one thought over and over again. She is  _alive_.

I'm awakened by the flat of a sword slamming into my temple. I hit the wall hard and land on my behind. I take a minute to reorient myself. "What the hell was that?"

"I was trying to get your attention." She Requips her blade away.

"Then shout or something!"

"I was."

I rub my face where she hit it. "Lucy-  _What?_ "

She shrugs. "It was strange. Despite the intense heat she only had a few minor burns, and those were in the shape of your hands."

Oh.  _Oh_.

She extends a hand; I take it and rise unsteadily to my feet. "So she's really alright," I say. She nods in response. "Oh." More like  _no_ , because it is physically impossible for her to be alright.  _Alive_. It's just like...

Holy shit.

"It's just like last time," I whisper.

"What?"

I shake my head, rubbing my shoulder. "Nothing. Nothing. I'm glad she's alright."

She looks at me quizzically. "Are  _you_  alright?"

I start to say yes, then another wave of pain hits me and I have to brace my hand against the wall to keep from falling on my face. "No, no I'm not. I'm going back to bed."

She helps me to walk back to the bed. As I lie down I look at the curtain separating me from Lucy. "I didn't get your name," I say.

"Erza Scarlet."

"Erza... Could you watch Lucy for me? Make sure that she's okay?"

She smiles and nods. "I'll make sure." Then she disappears behind the curtain and I let my eyes fall close once more, though my mind feels far too cluttered for me to sleep. But I'm somewhat comforted of the thought that, no matter how crazy it is, Lucy is  _alive_. I can't be sure if I give the order or not, but suddenly my legs are moving again, standing me up and walking me over to her. I collapse on her bed this time, and even with my eyes still closed my hand finds hers, intertwining our fingers. Though I'm perpetually warm, I find solace in her body heat, and lying side-by-side I can find an equilibrium of emotions and fall into a dreamless sleep.


	7. 7. The Other Dragon Slayer

"What was your story again?" Gray asks, amassing more members to our little group. I feel a tic going in my temple.

"I've told it four times."

"C'mon, it's pretty far-fetched." He jerks his thumb at the others. "These knucklehead bastards wanna hear it themselves."

I sigh and wave at Mirajane, the pretty white-haired barmaid. (Of course, pretty is a general term for women; to be honest I think they all look the same, but the one time I said that to a woman she kicked my ass.) "Can I get a beer?" I ask.

"Aw, aren't you too young, Natsu?" she replies. She smiles constantly, so much that I'm not really annoyed by her words.

"I can handle it."

She turns to the bar, reading labels before coming up with a brown bottle and filling a mug, sliding it towards me. I take a long drink before turning back to Gray, retelling him and his buddies how I was in Lucy's room (a fact they enjoy very much, especially the white-haired man "Elfman," who always shouts about that being a "Manly" thing for me to have done) and the fire appeared, trapping us below where I encountered Mystgun (whose name I somehow cannot recall while relaying the story) and, leaving out the part of the curse, explaining how he tried to coerce me into giving up half of my emotions before Gray broke in at exactly the right time and rescued us.

"What about Lucy?" a middle-age blue-haired man asks from the back of the table. "If you were so banged up how'd she end up unscathed?"

I shake my head. "I don't understand that."

"Natsu-nii, you're so amazing!" the man's son, a boy of about thirteen, says appreciatively.

"Not really."

"He is to me." I almost fall from the bar-stool as Lucy appears at my side; not really appear, but approaches when I'm not paying attention. Besides catching me off-guard she started scoring odd reactions from me that even I don't understand.

I woke up three days after meeting Erza. By then, Lucy had woken much earlier, and was up and about with only a few bandages on her arm and side where I was holding her. It was just as they said about the hand-prints; it was eerily similar to the first time we met, in those regards.

_I sat up and nearly passed out again from the shock of seeing her hopping from one foot to the other at the foot of my bed, watching me anxiously. She beamed as soon as I opened my eyes. "Natsu!" Lucy yelled, throwing her arms around my neck. I coughed, stunned, and she mistook my stillness for pain and relented, hands behind her back. "I'm so glad you're alive."_

_"Me...too..." I rubbed my arms; my whole body still ached terribly but it was profoundly less than earlier. "But you're okay?"_

_She nodded. "It's weird. It's just like that house fire; the events during it are fuzzy, so I can't really remember if I was hurt or not, but apparently, I wasn't either time!" She poked the bandage on her arm. "I'm stronger than I thought, I guess."_

_You don't know the half of it, I wanted to say, but held myself back. Loke's words came back to me; it_ is _true. A fluke does not happen twice, nor does beginner's luck. However far-fetched it appeared to be, Lucy was somehow immune to my curse. Curse only; I wasn't ready to apply it to death itself. But Lucy wasn't going to be killed by my curse, that was for certain. And that meant- Oh, my God! Ignoring the pain, I lurched to the foot of the bed, straining to get on my knees and threw my arms around her, pressing her against me._

_"Natsu!" she sputtered, obviously caught off-guard. I felt her skin warm up. "Wh-What are you doing?"_

_"Touching you." I pressed my face into her hair and took the deepest breath possible with my sore lungs. "Smelling you. Trying to memorize your scent." I pulled her closer, if that was even possible. "Oh, God, you don't know how long I wanted to do this. Now I can without being afraid."_

_Lucy's arms went around my neck, her fingers knotting in my hair. "Natsu, do you like me?" she asked, her voice soft._

_"Yes."_

_"Do you...love me?" Her voice was very quiet, as if the words might shatter if she tried too hard. I tightened my grip on her.  
_

_"I-" The door swung open and we broke apart immediately, both with crimson faces. Makarov walked in and looked between us._

_"Was I interrupting something?" he asked, a hint of a smile on his face._

_"No sir. No_ sir _." I looked at Lucy, who had retreated behind her hands._

_"You've been out a while, Natsu. Are you alright?"_

_I let out a breath. "I feel like my bones and muscles were taken out and replaced in the wrong way, but I guess that overall I'm alright. I'm still alive."_

_He closed his eyes to think for a moment. "That fire was a strange one. It seemed like a Mage caused it, from its characteristics, but no one in the dorm saw anybody actually make it." He looked at me. "Did you see anything peculiar, Natsu?"_

_I looked at Lucy, then back at Makarov. At the mention of that damn Mystgun my head started pounding. I held it with one hand; it was his magic, I was sure of it, affecting my memory. "Sorry, sir," I said. Makarov cocked his head slightly._

_"Child, do you wish to join Fairy Tail?"_

_I froze completely. "Erm, what? No, I'm not... I couldn't possibly..."_

_He gestured at Lucy. "You saved one of our own."_

_I looked back at her and blanched; there was a pink mark on her hand, the Fairy Tail's mark. I felt like an idiot for not noticing it before. "Why don't you join, Natsu?" she asked. "We could be a team here."_

_I looked down; my vest and pants had burned away, and someone had given me red shorts. I almost couldn't see any skin since I was so bandaged. I wanted to join Fairy Tail. Nothing would make me happier, except Lucy. But yet... But yet..._

"So the Hothead is scared of a pretty girl!" Gray laughs, pounding his fist against the table. I lurch from my seat, downing the rest of my drink.

"You got beef with me, Ice-Prick?" I snarl. He rises as well, butting foreheads with me.

"'Course I do, slanty-eyes. The question is, can you handle it?"

"More than you think, droopy-eyes. Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" I light my fist, ignoring Lucy's protests behind me as I swing at Gray. He dodges to the left and slams his palm against the ground.

"Ice Make: Floor!" Ice slithers across the ground to land under my feet. I lose my footing and slide right into the table, the Mages around it scattering as it splinters and breaks. I land hard on my back but bounce back immediately. By now every Mage has cleared it to the sidelines, whooping and cheering for either me or Gray. I cup my hands to my mouth and dredge up every bit of fire in my body.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!"

Gray raises his hands just as my flames are within distance and creates a fine white mist that overtakes them, turning them into ice shavings. "Ice Make: Sword!" He forges a sword of ice and uses the bar as a kickoff point to launch himself at me. I slap my hands together, catching the blade between my palms. The cold is so intense it radiates through my veins, creating stalactites on my arms. I force my magic to go internal instead of external, spiking my body's heat until the sword turns to vapor and Gray has to retreat a few steps. I steady my stance and pump the superfluous heat away from my body in my elbow. The force of my flames add extra oomph to my hand as I hit him with another Fire Dragon's Iron Fist, comparable to the one that I used on him the first time we met. Igneel once told me true warriors forge friendships on the battlefield; I think of that as my fist collides with Gray's cheek. It takes a full three seconds before the impact follows the contact and his feet lift from the ground as his body goes flying halfway across the Guild, mowing down Mages until he's finally caught by one.

"My cake!" Erza exclaims as a squashed pastry falls to the ground. Her eyes, previously kind, turn blazing in an instant, chilling my bones far worse than Gray's ice can. She Requips a _katana_ , grabbing Gray (who is strangely still and paler) by the hair. "Retribution is necessary!"

Her sword clocks another member on the head, who stumbles and crashes into the sedentary man at the request board, who trips and hits a dancing fellow in the corner, who catches himself before falling but spills a blonde lightning bolt-scarred man's beer- Suffice it to say, my attack triggers a chain reaction that gets everybody in the Guild trying to wring the life out of the next guy. I stand at the edge of the brawl, just far enough that the blood splatters ahead of my toes, wondering how the hell this came to pass. Lucy moves to my side, looking at my face in awe. "Wow," she says.

"What?" I ask.

"You're grinning."

I touch my face. "I am?"

She smiles. "It's cute; don't stop. It's like you were made to grin like that."

"I still shouldn't be here."

She grabs my arm and pulls it lightly. "Stop trying to convince me that you're trouble." I'm not trying to convince _her_ anymore; I'm trying to convince myself that _this_ \- friends and fun and _food!_ \- isn't worth it, which is incredibly difficult. "You saved my life twice. That's the opposite of trouble."

"Guess who endangered your life in the first place."

"But I never die, did I? I think it's because you don't want to hurt me."

I can't correct her that even if I don't want to hurt the person in question the curse doesn't care, not with her miraculous survivals hitherto. "What do I do now?" I ask. "My fighting partner is in it with someone else."

She looks at me and smiles breathlessly. "Why don't we go get you new clothes?"

I tug at the shorts obliviously. "Is there a problem with these?"

"You can't walk around in shorts only. Well, unless you're Gray."

"What?" Gray shouts from somewhere in the fray. Another person comes and punches him in the face and he is quickly enveloped in the fight once more.

"But... I don't have any money..."

"It's okay; I have enough."

I raise my hands in protest. "I can't possibly impose on you in such a way."

"Please?" she says with her smile, and like always, that's all it takes.

* * *

"How does that feel?" she asks, leaning against the bookstore she decided to stop by.

"Peculiar. I'm not accustomed to sleeves, even singular ones." I pull at the jacket again, trying to adjust to the odd feeling of fabric on my arm.

"I've been wondering." She pushes open the door to the store; I follow her inside, gawking at the sheer number of volumes. "Why do you talk like that?"

"Like what?"

"Extremely formal with all those complicated words. You're not much older than I am, you know. Or are you an old man with Transformation Magic?"

I snort at that. "No, I am as old as I appear to be."

"So why? You're not going to impress me like that," she adds with a smirk, checking a row of books by Kemu Zaleon.

"Because however much of a miscreant I appear to be I _am_ intelligent and I prefer to act as such."

"Intelligent," she repeats with a smile.

"What? What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing. Oh!" She reaches for a book on the very top shelf, stretching on her toes. "That's Kemu Zaleon's new book! I really want to read it... Damn! I can't reach it!"

I put my hands on her waist and lift her until she can grab it. When I set her down she averts her eyes, red creeping up her face. "What's wrong?" I ask.

"You... Nothing." She goes to pay for the book, leaving me bemused. I look at the rest of them and, to my surprise, find a dilapidated volume on dragons. I flip it open and see a detailed sketch of a dragon on the cover page. Initially, it makes me ache for Igneel, then I notice something: the dragon I see is completely unfamiliar. I thought that I met all the dragons but this one is a stranger. Because I've not met it, it might have s-

The book falls from my hands, clapping shut at my feet. _There might be another Dragon Slayer._

I hear the door open and close, then Lucy's shout outside. I hastily replace the book before running to find her. I see her pressed against a wall, her Keys being dangled above her head by a tall, blonde-haired man. I don't give it a second thought; I charge forward, spinning at the last second to ram into him with my shoulder. I miscalculate because from my position, I couldn't see how sturdy he is, but I hit him hard enough to make him move back a step. That's when I see the Guild mark on his shoulder. "Sabertooth," I say, though it comes out as a growl.

"Whoa, calm down," he says with a lax grin, picking up the Keys he dropped. "I was just playing with her."

"Lucy?" I say. It's all I say, but my tone is more like _Give me the word and I'll beat his ass._

"He was playing, Natsu," she confirms. I look at him and snort as she bends over to take the new book from its position on the ground.

"So who's this, your boyfriend?" he chuckles. Lucy flushes.

"He protects me."

"Yeah. From people like _you_." I move closer; we're about the same height. "So if I were you, I'd take my little ass home." My eyes widen as I catch a whiff of him. He smells like...me. Not _me_ , because I always smell like charcoal, but like a dragon. "Are you... Are you a Dragon Slayer, perchance?"

"Yeah, me and my little ass." He grins, holding out his hand. "Sting Eucliffe, Master of Sabertooth."

I shake it harder than necessary. "Natsu Dragneel."

"Lucy of Fairy Tail," Lucy chimes in.

"I saw the Mark - well, I saw your pretty face first," Sting says expertly. Lucy reddens with a small smile; suddenly I feel like punching him. He hasn't done anything yet to irk me so the need confuses me. Why am I being so protective of Lucy who does not rightly belong to me?

I pipe up, "Did you see my pretty face too? It's like hers but angrier."

"Shit, if I didn't know any better, I'd think that you're in love with Lucy here," Sting goads, his smile smug.

"Far from it." Actually, not that far from it, but I won't say it in front of her.

"So how are the bastards at Fairy Tail?"

"Fighting," Lucy answers. Sting laughs.

"They always are."

"And by the way, we should be getting back to them. Come on Lucy." I tug her arm but she shakes me off.

"Why are you acting like that?" she asks.

"Like what?"

"Possessive. A little angry." She pauses, realization dawning in her eyes. "Oh. _Oh._ "

"What?"

She giggles, clenching her fists in triumph. "Oh, I understand it now."

A finger of smoke curls from my nose in irritation. "Tell me. What is it? What do you understand?"

She continues giggling as she cups my face in her hands. "Natsu Dragneel, you. Are. _Jealous_."

Because I've become used to Lucy's incriminating gestures and words, I do not react as frantically as I would have prior - as in I don't turn as red as Igneel's scales. I push her hands down, more smoke pumping through my nostrils. The flame in my gut is yearning to burst free from my frustration and Lucy is the last person I want it to relieve itself on. "I ain't jealous," I say petulantly. "Nobody's jealous of this excuse of a Dragon Slayer."

Sting draws his eyebrows together but the smile is still on his face, cocky now. "You're talking like you're the dragon's shit itself."

"I would not be so bold as to claim that of myself, but I am perceptive enough to notice that you're the opposite." A half-smile graces my face. "Wait. You _are_ the dragon's shit. Somebody should clean you up."

He shifts to a fighting stance; I mirror him. "Is that a fighting challenge, Natsu Dragneel?"

I crack my knuckles, followed by my neck and shoulders. "I'm not inviting your dainty ass to dance with me."

"Keep saying that while I kick _your_ dainty ass to the ground."

I let out a long, fiery breath. It's safe to say that at this moment, I'm fired up.


	8. A New Home

Fighting with Sting is different than fighting with Gray. First of all, with Gray, it was playful Fairy Tail scuffling; with Sting, it's a way of expelling my anger at his careless treatment of Lucy. I inwardly flinch; again, I cannot comprehend my over-protective attitude towards her. She is a Mage, as I, and being so is fully capable of protecting herself. Secondly, Sting and I are dragons, beings with an almost inexhaustible amount of power, both magical and physical, and willpower that is even stronger. With Gray, I've only been using half of my Fire Magic, though with Sting, I get the feeling that I'll need more than what I currently am capable of using.

"Are you going to throw a punch, or are we going to a ball with this dance?" Sting says, still smirking. I snarl, my stance momentarily breaking. He spots that minute opening and charges, fist cocked back to strike. I catch myself and block it, though I'm slightly slow and I hit his knuckles with my wrist instead of my palm. Pain lances up my arm from the impact; obviously, his strength is on par with mine. He relents and immediately comes again, this time with his knee. I take the hit hard in my abdomen, the breath whooshing out of me; as a side-effect, the smoke from the fire I've been hoarding comes rushing from my nose and mouth, hovering around his face like a cloud. He gags within it, stunned, and I use that as an opportunity to counterattack.

I rush in and grab his wrists, pulling his arms above his head. His vision clears just as I kick back my foot and swing forwards, slamming my sandal into his chest. His shoulders make an audible _pop_ as his body tries to move while I still hold him; I release him a moment later and he goes flying head-over-heels before catching himself, his boots skidding on the dry pathway. He sighs as he snaps his shoulders back into place. "Shit, you're stronger than you look, Natsu."

"Of course." I put my hand on my shoulder and flex my arm. "But I haven't seen anything worth mentioning from you yet."

He grins and cups his hands to his mouth. I don't realize what he's attempting until he calls, "Light Dragon's Roar!" and a blazing white light projects from his body, momentarily blinding me with its luster. I wait too long to move and am caught in its whiteness like an animal before a predator. The powerful energy sears my skin and forces me back with its intensity. I attempt to hold my ground but am quickly overpowered; his attack sends me flying. I throw my hand out and manage to grab a house's pillar just as his attack completely explodes into a cloud of sandy smoke.

"Natsu!" Lucy cries.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," I say, steadying myself. I tear away the burnt torso of my jacket. "I'm sorry. You spent your money to buy me these clothes and I'm ruining them."

"I'll buy you a new one," Sting says with a grin. "That is, if you can match your power with your talk."

"You should be the one concerned about amounting to your hubris, _Master of Sabertooth,_ " I snort derisively. "If I'm not mistaken, you all lost to Fairy Tail for the Grand Magic Games, did you not?"

"Well yeah, 'cause Fairy Tail is full of powerful freaks. Of course, not you." He winks at Lucy, who blushes slightly in response. My anger spikes as I charge him.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" He dodges easily, sweeping to the side. I spin, just as easily changing the purpose of my flames. "Fire Dragon's Crushing Fang!" This time I catch him in the chest. The breath whooshes out of him but he grins, grabbing my wrist with one hand to keep me still and forcing his other hand, fingers bent, into my abdomen.

"White Dragon's Claw!" His light explodes in his palm, crashing against my body. Because he didn't release my arm I receive the full impact without being knocked away. He jumps away with a sneaky grin; I start, ready to give chase like the predator I am, but find I am unable to move. "That's impossible to break, by the way," he says, putting his hands, palm-open, together. Even at a distance I can feel the intense buildup of magical energy just as much as I can see the bright light. I strain my muscles in my arm, trying to get it to move. "It's futile. Men bigger than you have failed trying to break it. Prepare to see why they call me the Master, Fire Dragon Slayer. Holy Ray!" He throws his hand forward and the light in his palm explodes into several godspeed lances racing at me. I don't have time to react before they crash into me, pelting me like acid rain. By themselves they are almost ineffective due to my extensive training, however the attack seems unrelenting; it continues without break until his light draws blood. "If you give up now, Natsu, I'll just leave you with a few bruises," he suggests.

"You're a real shit to think that I give up so easily." I focus my flames on my stomach, super-heating my abdomen until his mark shatters into light filaments. He gasps in surprise as the flames burst from my hands and arms, obliterating his attack in an instant. "Lucy, take cover," I warn. She ducks into an alley as I stalk forward, arms spread. "Prepare to see how _I've_ defied the food chain all these years. Fire Dragon's Secret Arts: Exploding Flame Blade!"

I believe sometime during my assault he attempted to counterattack; however, my flames easily overpower his light and send him flying. He goes thirty feet before landing in the river down the street with a big splash. He surfaces after a moment, shaking out his soaked hair. "Alright, alright, I give, you win," he concedes.

"You better believe I won, bastard!"

Lucy touches my shoulder with a smile. "You're having fun."

"No I'm not," I immediately protest.

"Yeah you are. I like this side of you, Natsu. This excited, battle-happy Natsu is a lot better than brooding and depressed Natsu." She lowers her voice a bit. "Even if you are cursed like you say, Natsu, the curse doesn't have to run your life. You saved my life so you can surely save anyone else. You _can_ make friends. You _can_ be happy."

"I can make friends? I can be happy?" The idea is so far-fetched that I have no idea what to do other than repeat it. "But, Lucy-"

What she does next completely throws me off. She holds my shoulder to support herself as she stands up on the tips of her boots and kisses me on the cheek. _Kisses me on the cheek._ "You _can_ ," she reassures me. "I owe you double for saving my life. The least I can do in return is teach you how to live."

"Ah-ah-ah-oh." My inarticulateness has reached new levels. I feel like she's taken all English words from my vocabulary and left only the sounds. I feel like the warmth of her lips has caused a nuclear meltdown in my cerebrum. I feel like a tactless bastard.

Sting dries himself off on the bank before approaching me with the king of all shit-eating grins. "Your fighting skill is perfect," he says while his grin grows ever shittier, "but your skill with ladies could use a lot of improvement."

I ground my teeth together. "You know what? Take your skill and shove it up your-"

"Hey, Lucy," Sting says, turning away from me. "I think he needs another kiss."

"Yeah, go 'head and kiss my ass."

"Well, all jokes aside, we should fight again. Not today though; I need to dry my clothes off." He offers a hand; I make a point of ignoring it. He turns to Lucy with another smile, this one annoyingly debonair. "It'd be nice if you'd visit the Guild sometime, Lucy," he says smoothly.

"Okay, sure," she agrees. He looks at me and gestures for me to wait a moment. He visits the clothing store that Lucy and I went to and comes out a minute later with a brand-new jacket. He hands it to me and, with another irritating smile in Lucy's direction, saunters away.

"I don't like him," I say as soon as he's out of earshot, which takes a while due to Dragon Slayers' honed hearing.

"You're just jealous," she giggles.

"I am _not_."

"Yeah he is." I feel Happy land on my head. I'm starting to lose my touch with scents. "He lo~ves you."

"No I don't," I hiss. "Who's side are you on?"

"Yes you _dp_." She kisses me on both cheeks this time and I completely short-circuit. "We should get back to the Guild, Natsu."

"Uh-uh-uh-uh huh."

"Lo~ve her," Happy purrs. I would skin him and tan his hide if I could remember how to work my arms. She tugs me forward, leading me by the hand down the road. I notice that it's not the one leading to Fairy Tail but I can't find the words to speak; instead, I let Lucy lead me, silently relishing in the contact of her soft hand in mine.

* * *

"Almost there," she assures as we make our way down the winding forest path. Trees loom broodingly over us, almost completely obscuring the Sun's light with their thick leaves. Happy has trouble flying through the thick weaving of branches.

"I've been to Fairy Tail before," he says, "so I know it's not through here."

"We're almost there so I might as well say the truth. We're not going to the Guild."

Happy looks at her quizzically. "Where are we going?"

She smiles at me. Sadly I'm still too out of touch to speak. "You'll see."

The forestry thins out until we're at the boundary, Lucy practically skipping down the path with me following stupidly behind. More and more I find myself bending to her whims as easily as clay. Some part of me is annoyed by this; deep inside I'm even angry that she slipped into my life. But the emotional part of me doesn't give two shits to following her around like a mindless lapdog, and somehow I continuously listen to that voice. Shit. If I keep this up then I might begin to believe that being Lucy's lapdog is a good idea however much it conflicts with my independent dragon nature.

"Close your eyes," she says out of the blue. I look at her, dubious, but she just grins at me. "Please?" I sigh and close them, staring into the swirling darkness behind my eyelids as the ground below me shifts from rough forest to smooth pathway. Happy positions himself at my shoulder and gasps at something, then giggles madly. I almost literally burn to see what has him and Lucy so fired up.

I notice a difference immediately as we near the border of the city. The forest scent is disrupted by something more human - the smell of masonry and chimney smoke. We're still too far from Magnolia to be smelling its creations, so this baffles me. Is someone living in the woods? I wonder as Lucy pulls me to a stop.

"Open your eyes," she whispers. I do, and can't stop the breath that whooshes from my lungs.

Where there was once a patch of browning grass and ropes of ivy connecting the thinning trees, there lies a small home - not even that, a shack - composed of stone interwoven with ivy and centered around a spindly oak tree. I turn to Lucy, bemused, as she moves to stand next to a wooden cat-shaped sign I didn't notice prior. As I read the messy paint, her smile widens and her eyes soften.

_**Natsu &  
Happy** _

"It's yours," Lucy says, seemingly reading my mind. "Yours and Happy's."

Happy lands on my shoulder, blubbering and sobbing and getting his bodily fluids all over my scarf. I pat his head absently, paralyzed with wonder and astonishment. A house? With my name on it? Lucy snaps her fingers to catch my attention, then points at the door, her smile so warm it reminds me of Igneel's body. I slowly approach the door and face it for a moment, as if it is one of the Forest Vulcans I once feared. Then I place a trembling hand on the knob and twist it open.

" _SURPRISE!_ "

Not every Guild member is inside, as it is a small house, but enough are there to nearly give me a heart attack. Off the top of my head, I can name Gray, Erza, Mirajane, Makarov, Nab, Vijeeter, Cana, Levy, and, amazingly, Loke, though he exchanged his suit for a casual jacket and boots look. The walls are full of red, gold, and orange balloons and the floor is full of streamers of the same color. Among the other furniture in the room, there's a wooden dining table in the center, which currently holds a misshapen orange and yellow cake with my name scribbled in red icing. Mirajane smiles sweetly.

"I made it," she says. "With Erza and Gray's help."

I turn to Gray, who scoffs and turns away with the hint of a smile on his face. Erza smiles at me.

"You saved Lucy's life," she says. "We can at least give you a home when you have none."

"I-" I halt, not knowing what to say. "I'm sorry. I truly am touched that you all went through all this trouble for me, but-"

" _But_ what, Natsu?" I spin, perplexed. Lucy's smile has disappeared and her lips tightened into a thin line. "Natsu, you don't have a reason to refuse a house when you've been living on the streets for who-knows-how-long. I'm your friend; I don't want to see you get sick or worse. None of us do; it's why we worked hard to build this for you, you and Happy."

"You know, Happy is a stray," Gray says, speaking to Natsu for the first time. "I can't tell you how many times he came to the Guild hungry because nobody wants to feed some street cat. He deserves a home, too."

"But-"

Lucy moves to face me, which is awkward as she is a few inches shorter than me. "Please, Natsu." Her eyes glisten. "Take this one thing from me. Please?"

I open my mouth to protest, but the rest of the Guild cuts me off, all of them telling me to accept the offer. I try to speak but the other voices consume my own. Erza Requips her sword and slams the butt against the table, silencing everyone. "I..." I meet the eyes of every Guild member before settling on Makarov's.

"Why don't you want a home, child?" he asks. I bow my head.

"I don't deserve one," I say. "After what I did..."

"The lives lost in the past were not your fault, Natsu. The blame can only be set on your curse; because of it, you had to suffer for the majority of your life. Other Fairies have the same troubles." He turns to Gray. "Gray's old master, Ur, sacrificed herself to seal the demon he was nearly killed by." He turns to Erza. "Erza was once in the Tower of Heaven; she left her friends alone there for years, and still blames herself for that to this day." He turns back to me. "All of my children have their regrets and sorrows, but they look past them to live their lives today. Now, do you accept this gift we are offering you?"

"I... Uh..." Then I burst out laughing, surprising everyone and even myself. It somehow feels...right. "I don't think I have a valid argument anymore," I chuckle, scratching my neck. "I mean... Yes. Yes, I accept it."

Deafening cheers shake the house as Guild members shout and yell. Erza silences them again and, with an unsettling look in my direction, raises her sword. Gray retreats at the sight of it, though luckily she targets the cake instead, cutting it into twenty-five perfect cubes. Everyone clusters around to grab a piece while I remain at the edge of the crowd, still wondering where that laughter came from. I haven't laughed like that since I was a child with Igneel, but the Guild members brought it out of me so quickly...

"Natsu, don't you want cake?" Happy asks, holding a piece between his little paws. He offers it to me but I refuse.

"It has fur in it," I point out. He looks at it and shrugs, flitting off to join the others. Lucy looks at me and tries to wave me over, but I shake my head. "I'm going to step out for a moment," I say. She opens her mouth, seemingly to reply, but shuts it quickly, looking away. I turn to the door, glancing back one more time. The Guild seems to be in high swing as always, Lucy and Happy laughing with them and eating cake and having a generally good time. I wonder if the place is really for me, if I belong in such a jovial Guild while my spirits have long been grounded into dust. A terrifying thought hits me as I close the door behind me; I try to shake it off, but I'm scared to death that even for a second, I believed that Mystgun's deal was worth it.

It takes a lot less time than usual for me to exhaust myself hiking up the forest path, probably because I already expended so much energy in fighting Sting. I end up in a darker section of Magnolia Forest, panting and trying to catch my breath. The shrubbery and moss are so thick I can't tell which way I came in from. I try to climb up a tree to find my position, but the bark is so weak from lack of sunlight that it comes apart in my fingers. I sigh and drop to the ground, hoping to rest a little. I must doze off, because suddenly there are shadows snaking across the pine-covered ground. I lurch to my feet instantly, growling and searching the area by sight and smell. The shadows vanish instantly, their disappearance shortly followed by deep laughter resonating through the small clearing.

"It's a dragon," a voice says, clearly female.

"You better show yourself," I threaten. I smell someone coming up behind me; I whirl around and just manage to spot pink hair before the culprit presses a bundled cloth to my face with both hands. I grab their wrists, trying to move them, but find my strength waning at record speed. The cloth falls away as I crumple to the ground, edging towards unconsciousness.

"It's crude, but it helps that you have such a heightened sense of smell," the woman says, her black boots coming into view. I try to growl but it comes out like a whine. She crouches down to look me in the eyes, her red lips curling into a smile. "You'll be a big help, Natsu Dragneel."


	9. The Two Jellals

_"You better believe I won, bastard!"_

_Lucy touches my shoulder with a smile. "You're having fun."_

_"No I'm not," I immediately protest._

_"Yeah you are. I like this side of you, Natsu. This excited, battle-happy Natsu is a lot better than brooding and depressed Natsu." She lowers her voice a bit. "Even if you are cursed like you say, Natsu, the curse doesn't have to run your life. You saved my life so you can surely save anyone else. You can make friends. You can be happy."_

_"I can make friends? I can be happy?" The idea is so far-fetched that I have no idea what to do other than repeat it. "But, Lucy-"_

_What she does next completely throws me off. She holds my shoulder to support herself as she stands up on the tips of her boots and kisses me on the cheek._ Kisses me on the cheek. _"You can," she reassures me. "I owe you double for saving my life. The least I can do in return is teach you how to live."_

_I stand stunned for a few seconds, but the feeling quickly wanes as I smile back. "I guess there isn't any fighting you after all, Lucy."_

_"Nope," she says triumphantly. I put my hands on her shoulders, startling her into stillness. Her lips part in surprise as I tilt my head to the side, completely at ease even as I move close enough to feel her quickening breath on my cheek._

_"Then let me show you_ my _thanks." I press my lips against her forehead, my smile widening as she jerks in surprise. I feel heat almost as strong as my own radiate from every bit of skin on her body, her heart beating like the drums of war in her chest. I slowly move back, relishing Lucy, the brave child who was audacious enough to face me, a fire-breathing dragon, looking apprehensive and embarrassed. I lower my head and press my lips against hers, taking special note of her soft ones that seem to mold around mine and the way her every muscle relaxes as soon as I do it. It takes me a minute to notice something off. Is that...hair?_

"Damn it!" I shout, grabbing Happy by the tail and spitting out the bits of blue fur that have gotten in my mouth. "Happy, what are you-"

"Natsu!" Happy interrupts. Chills of trepidation shoot through my nerves and I sit bolt-upright, my head instantly slamming into something metallic above me. I fall backwards into what feels like bars, feeling warm blood trickle down my nose from a laceration on my forehead. I set Happy down with a pained groan, trying to see through my likely concussion. The room we're in is very dark, however I can make out the metal cage we're in. I punch the bars but find they have no give, and I can't use my flames without harming Happy.

"Where are we?" I ask, my voice somewhat hoarse from the lingering pain in my skull. Happy's wide eyes are like beacons in the darkness, glistening from the tears soaking his fur.

"I don't know!"

"Huh? Wait..." I press my palm against my temple, trying to remember what happened. It was...the forest...a party...Lucy's kiss (astoundingly, that's the most vivid memory)...a woman... "Wait, why the hell are you here? I'm sure I was alone..."

"I saw two women dragging you away," he explains. "I tried to go back to call for help but all of a sudden a tree branch broke off and hit me on the head!" He pointed at a small bump between his ears. "Then I woke up here!"

"Damn..." I press my sleeve against my forehead, silently thanking Lucy for choosing this jacket. "I'm sorry, Happy. This is my problem and you're involved in it."

Happy, who was wiping his tears, snaps his head up to look me in the eyes with an expression so ascetic it catches me off-guard. "I'm your friend, Natsu," he says with finality. The effort of holding such an austere expressions appears to be too much for the plucky cat, as it drops a moment later as his eyes set on my sandals. "Even though you're not my friend, I care about you. I saw you were in trouble and I didn't think twice about it being your problem or mine; I just tried to help you, because you've been my best friend for so long. Like, back then when you told Lucy you hate her-" I didn't know you heard that, I think, but didn't say aloud, "-she still tried to be your friend. We really care about you, Natsu."

"I know," I murmur, dropping my head in my hands. "And I wish that wasn't so." I again attempt to peer through the darkness, my efforts fruitless. "That woman with black hair... She wants me because I'm a dragon, I'm sure of that. However, I don't know of a purpose I can fulfill, especially at half-power."

"Half-power?"

My stomach growls as if it wants to beat me to an answer. "Half-power."

The door opens within the next heartbeat, blinding us with the sudden white light. As my eyes adjust I make out the black-haired woman from earlier, a grim expression on her face as she slowly approaches us. "He's right here," she says over her shoulder. Another figure enters the room, one in a navy cloak with some sort of Guild mark on it. I gasp, a breath that quickly dissolves into a heated growl. "Mystgun," I snarl with as much force as I can muster. Even without the mask, I can still recognize the cerulean hair and red marks below his eye. His lips part slightly in confusion, as if he doesn't recognize the very name he gave me, but his expression quickly shifts into something indistinct.

"You met him," he says succinctly, neither remorseful nor disconcerted in the least. I grab the cage bars, shaking them with so much force Happy pleads for me to stop.

" _Him_ is _you_!" I snap fervently.

"He's not," the woman says with a serenity that only succeeds in further invoking my ire. "Mystgun is Jellal's Edolas counterpart. You should know about Edolas; you have an Exceed right there."

Oh. I drop my hands, staring at the one she referred to as Jellal. He has a different scent now that I think about it, more like sadness and the forest, and he isn't spouting Mystgun's crap about removing my curse. "Like I give a damn. Mystgun or not, you still mean me harm, am I correct?"

"It depends on how you think of it," Jellal says.

"This situation can only be thought of in one way: _I'm being kidnapped_."

"You're eighteen, aren't you?" the woman pointed out. "You're hardly a kid."

"Yes, thank you for nitpicking," I say derisively.

"Rest assured, Natsu Dragneel, that our purpose is not at all shady and will not harm you at all," Jellal says.

"Then why exactly am I in a cage?"

"We knew you would be...disagreeable."

"Damn right I'm disagreeable!" I shake the cage for emphasis. "This is just one in a very long list of things to go wrong with my life in the last three days. I'd be crazy to not be disagreeable."

"Let us out!" Happy wails.

"In due time," the woman says. "We want you to...cool off, first."

I exhale a cloud of fire. "Whatever you two plan on doing, whether for the greater good or your 'greater' evil, I will not aid you."

"You might find yourself unable to disagree," is all Jellal says before they leave, bathing us in darkness again.

"What are we gonna do, Natsu?" Happy pleads, pulling down my zipper to climb into my jacket. At first I cringe at the wet feeling of his bodily fluids against my bare skin, but I figure that the cat can use a break and let him stay there.

"I'm not very sure myself, Happy."

He curls up against my stomach, his claws digging into my abdomen. "I'm scared, Natsu."

"It'll be okay. You have a dragon protecting you."

It's true, that he has a dragon protecting him, but sadly, that's not the case with me.

* * *

I count exactly ten thousand, three hundred and ninety-two seconds before Jellal returns. This time, there's something small but long concealed beneath his cloak, something that smells like metal and a bit like rust. "What is that, a gun?" I ask halfheartedly. Halfheartedly because though it's intended to be a joke, a gun is one of the few things that can actually harm me.

"Can you remain still for a minute?" he asks, reaching into his cloak.

"I truly don't believe I can."

"How about this? You stay still, or I shoot your kitty." He jerks his chin at Happy, who squeaks and hides behind my back. I grind my teeth but lock my muscles, sitting perfectly still. When he's assured I won't try anything, he kneels in front of the cage and removes the gun from his cloak, which is one that shoots syringe vials instead of bullets. Before I have a chance to react he stabs the needle into the underside of my wrist, pulling the trigger slowly as to ensure every drop of the strange violet liquid moves into my blood. "Okay, there it is." He moves back a bit, staring at me so intently I feel as if he's burning holes in my skull.

"What was that supposed to do?"

"It's not _supposed_ to do anything," he says calmly. "It's _ensured_ to do exactly what we want."

He silently waits there for approximately three hundred and sixty seconds before syringing me again, this time drawing my blood which, if I'm not imagining things, appears a bit cyan-tinged. "Alright," he says, a slight smile gracing that very punch-able face. I lean forward on my hands.

"What now, then? Would you like to keep me here as some sort of dragon sideshow?"

"As interesting and lucrative as that sounds - and don't take this part personally - I'd hate to have you around me any longer."

"Gee, thank you. I just might go home with a complex today."

He doesn't honor me with an equally-witty reply, which I am actually relieved for; my humor has its limits too. He pockets the vial full of my blood - who knows what he plans on doing with _that_ \- before replacing it with a vial of something colorless. This time, he syringes my neck, never breaking eye-contact as he slowly injects it into my jugular. My body slows before my mind does, giving me a few extra seconds of loathing Jellal's self-righteous smile before the darkness hits.

* * *

"Natsu. Natsu!"

"Ehhn?" I groan. "Isshuearryfodish..."

It takes me a moment to realize what I just said - or rather, what I didn't say. I crack my eyes open, squinting into the blinding light of early morning. The absolute last person I want or ever want to see is crouched at my side, an expression of concern marring his face. I sit up, clenching my stomach as I attempt to glare at him. "Whaharyuuhuinghar?" _What?_

"Lucy must've kissed you again; you're usually a lot more articulate," Sting comments, a sly grin crossing his face.

"Shushurshrak," I snap.

"Just be lucky I can understand gibberish."

"Whyharyuuhar?"

"Why am I here? Well, take a look."

I turn to the side and grit my teeth. There, a large building looms, one with letters bearing the name 'SABERTOOTH'. "Huckyuu."

"Aw, there's no need for profanity." He stands up and offers a hand; I make a point of ignoring it, but find myself stumbling and cringing when I try to rise. Grudgingly, I accept his offer, even though I still feel as if I might collapse at any moment. "What happened? I was just coming out with Rogue - he's my partner, you see - and we found you lying in the middle of the street unconscious. He wanted to get help, but I told him he'd better just telling the Fairies. He should be on his way back by now."

"Herarhandhahhohan," I say. remembering Jellal and the other two women. Then I remember that injection he gave me, and suddenly it makes sense. "Klohor-kloroho- _chloroform_."

"I didn't understand the first part, but I get the chloroform bit. But how exactly did you let yourself get chloroformed?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Happy," I mutter.

"Huh?"

"Nohing."

"Natsu!" I look up in time to see Lucy crashing down to my side, throwing her arms around my neck and pushing her face into my shoulder. Even though my nerves are somewhat dulled, our bodily contact sends an eye-opening shock directly to my brain. I put my arms around her instinctively, taking in great mouthfuls of her flowers and ink scent.

"Hey, look what the dragon dragged in," Gray says, markedly less excited to see my face but relieved nonetheless. A young man with black hair and red eyes follows behind, nodding at Sting.

"Fahlkustahyukekahawtsurmgouh."

"Huh? What's that? I don't speak _moron_ ," he smirks. I then proceed to give him the universally understood gesture of my middle finger. He starts to move towards me but Lucy stops him, glaring.

"Gray, please," she says like he's an insolent child. I grin at him as he shoots visual daggers at me. She looks at me then, eyes concerned. "Natsu, where did you go? What happened?"

"Ihawskuckkakked." I frown, then turn to Sting.

"He was kidnapped," he supplies.

"AhighnumHerarandahohar... Kuuhohar."

"A guy named... Gerard?"

"Ho."

"Jellal?"

"Hah."

"Jellal," Sting says. "He was kidnapped by a guy named Jellal and two women."

"What two women?" the black-haired man asks.

"Ihonhohairames."

"He doesn't know their names," Sting translates.

"Heyihehehehuihohine... Hoo. Ihin... Ithushuhoshohoohohihithihint."

"He was injected with something blue, and it didn't do what it was supposed to."

"What about his worse-than-usual speech?" Gray inquires.

"Chloroform."

"Ihotworhshanuhual," I protest. "Ur haceis worhth 'han ushual."

"Hm? I kind of understood that."

"The chloroform ish wea'ing offh." I turn to Lucy. "I haff to tell Makarob about Shellal. I haff to-" I try to stand but end up falling into Gray's arms. "Thish doeshn't mean anyshing," I say to his smirking face.

"Honestly, though, you should be more concerned about getting to the infirmary," he says. "If that Jellal guy injected you with something, your life could be in danger."

I want to laugh how it's _my_ life, yet those around me are more concerned about it, but I can't spare the strength. "So how did Billy Badass get his ass captured?" Sting says behind me.

"Shusshup Shting."

"Hey, chill. You know I love you," he grins, moving in front of me. "Us Dragon Slayers have to stick together when there's not a lot left, right?"

And guess who the blame lies with, I think. Gray pulls my arm over his shoulders and puts his arm around my waist, then he starts walking back in Fairy Tail's direction. "You shouldn't kick yourself over this, Natsu," the black-haired one says. Even without smelling him, I can tell he is a Dragon Slayer. "It could have been any of us."

"But it happen to me. I'm shoo frea'ing unlushy." The statement could be taken regarding the kidnapping, but for me, for Lucy if she can decipher it, it can also mean how I am determined to remain solitary, yet I'm faced with such open and compassionate Guild members it's nearly impossible for me to be alone. Unluckier still, because I find that I am less content to be alone, and more so with my...friends.

* * *

I'm still not accustomed to the idea of having my own home, so when they do not follow the usual path to the Fairy Tail Guild I am confused. It's only when we approach the stone shack that I remember where we're going. Lucy opens the door and Gray sets me lying down on the couch; I can't explain how much of a bastard that makes me feel like, but I also can't feel my legs, so I'm stuck either way.

"Gray, we should go tell Makarov what happened," Lucy says to him. "Sting, Rogue, can you watch Natsu for us?"

"I'm not goin' anywhere," I protest, more than angry at having to stomach Sting's presence more than strictly necessary.

"Maybe, but if you croak, someone's gotta witness it," Sting smirks, sitting on the adjacent table and resting his elbows on his knees. I roll my eyes and close them, unwilling to look at him. I hear the door close, then slowly Gray and Lucy's scents fade away. "We finally have a moment alone."

"If you expexsht a kissh or shomething, you should leave now."

"No, no." His voice is surprisingly austere. "I actually have some questions for you, me and Rogue. We didn't know there are still Dragon Slayers hanging around."

"Wut?"

"We thought a certain pink-haired guy killed them all."

" _Wut?_ " I stare at them, eyes wide. Sting exhales, locking his fingers together beneath his chin.

"Don't get the wrong idea; neither of us blame you for what Acnologia did," Rogue says. Somehow, that does not relieve my tension. "But we do have questions, nonetheless, such as how you evaded _him_."

" _Him_? Who ish _him_?"

"Jellal Fernandez," Sting says like it's the easiest thing in the world.

"You know who he ish?" I growl, happy to think I have a reason to kick his ass.

"'Course," he shrugs. "He came to Sabertooth a while ago. He was wearing a cloak, so we couldn't see his face - we just knew it was him because you have his scent on you - and he offered to bring back our dragons for a little of our power each."

"He wut? Are you sure it wash Jellal and not shomeone elsh?"

"Like who? I'm pretty sure there's only one guy in the world that looks like him."

That's true enough; there is only one guy in the world that is Jellal Fernandez, but another world, that's completely different. It is not unbelievable that Sting is unaware of Edolas, but if he was also approached by Mystgun, then that is grounds for concern. Something does not compute, however; it appears that Jellal and Mystogun (if that is even his true name) are the same people, yet they have contradicting motives. Mystogun wants something from me while Jellal instead gave something to me, something that's still coursing through my body and has yet to make itself known. The fear of not knowing what is it is greater than the fear of what it will do.

"Anyway, the guy was pretty damn persistent, even after we refused. Said he'll _persuade_ us to think otherwise. We thought he was just bullshitting and went on with our lives - that is, until three of our Mages were left in critical condition after a good fight with him. And they weren't even everyday rookies; we're talking about a God Slayer, a Celestial Mage, and the Guildmaster's daughter."

"He never tried to fight me, though he did try to kill me with fire..."

"What?" Sting and Rogue say concurrently.

"Doeshn't matter, I'm fine now. He gave me a shimilar offer and became irate when I didn't ashept it."

"Ah." Sting scratches his hair with a sigh. "Wonder what the guy's motives are?"

"Speaking of motives, what are yours, exactly?" Rogue asks. I look at him, not expecting the question. "You don't seem to want to join Fairy Tail, neither do you want to stray too far from the Mages. You _do_ know that the more you hang around, the more people you endanger, don't you?" My expression answers him for me. "Yeah, of course you do. That's why we didn't hear about you all the years you were in Magnolia; you were in the shadows, unobtrusive. So why not return to that life now, before all these people end up dead like the others?"

I turn my head away. "I'm... Afraid."

"Afraid?"

"Mhmm. Afraid that just going back won't erase the bonds I've inadvertently created, and the others will still suffer and, consequently, I as well."

"So it's out of self-interest?" Sting asks. I shake my head.

"I've always cared for those around me more than myself, but I'm starting to realize that if I can't be happy, she can't either."

"She? Hmm, you really care about Lucy, don't you?" I turn back to Sting, irritated, but I see that he's still dead-serious.

"Of course."

"More than anything?"

"More than anything."

"Even if you learned something...bad about her? Like, she isn't what she seems to be?"

"What in the world are you talking about?"

"Your lisp is gone," he says offhandedly.

"Don't change the subject."

"Hey, I don't know what I'm talking about. Just sorta slipped out. Anyway," he says loudly, standing up. "Rogue, we should get back to the Guild."

"What about Natsu?"

"Don't worry; someone's coming for him," Sting smirks. I catch the scent he's referring to and relax a bit. "C'mon."

"Hey!" I sit up, rising to my feet a bit unsteadily. "Don't walk away! What were you talking about? Sting!"

He just passes through the door, shutting it on his way out. I could chase after him, but I can tell he'll just shake me off again. Also, a question has me hesitating: If they just met, how does Sting know about Lucy? He's cavalier and snotty but does not seem like a liar at all; I could have sensed his lies, if any, in any case. I realize that instead of focusing on why he said it, I should be focused on what he said. _She isn't what she seems to be._ Lucy is a little strange, of course, but Sting implies something far deeper than that. What could he possibly mean?


	10. The Limits of the Mind

**_"Natsu Dragneel-"_ **

_"Igneel, no!"_

**_"-you-"_ **

_"Wendy, I..."_

**_"-are-"_ **

_"No, Gajeel, please..."_

**_"-a-"_ **

_"...Lucy..."_

**_"-killer."_ **

I can't be a killer!

**Everything you touch, you destroy.**

I don't! I-

**Everyone you befriend, you eliminate.**

That's not me, it's the cu-

**Your own family, Natsu. Igneel, Wendy, Gajeel...**

It was not my fault-

**Who decided to play with them, even after Igneel's warning about making friends?**

...

**You do not have a curse, Natsu Dragneel. You** **_are_ ** **the curse.**

Stop it...

**You are the problem.**

No...

**Natsu Dragneel, son of Igneel-**

I can't...

_**You are a monster.** _

* * *

There is something achingly familiar about that voice. I know this intrinsically, the same as one would know their mother's voice. It is a voice that has been with me since I was very young, though I also know that it was not a positive influence. Though I cannot place it at this moment, I do know that the voice has been the cause of much suffering for me for years.

I realize that I am in a very dark place. There is no light at all, as if all of it was swallowed by an external force, and I am unable to move from the spot I originated in. I watch as a reel appears, displaying my memories of Acnologia as it battles with Igneel. I want to turn away but something invisible is holding me in place, forcing me to relive when Acnologia suddenly turned away from Igneel, snapping its jaws at me. Igneel dove forward, extending his arm, which took the attack instead of me. Acnologia roared as it forced Igneel back, tearing at him with its claws, shredding his thick cover of scales and reaching the muscles and organs beneath. Then I see myself as I was over ten years ago, watching helplessly as my father is killed before my eyes.

_As your father before you, everyone who dares love a beast such as yourself shall perish by your coveted fire._

I relive the moment where Wendy died, burned to a crisp from my fire. Then there was the time Gajeel took a mission with his Guild, Phantom Lord, to track down and capture a Dark Guild Mage that was taking lives left and right. He chased the Mage to a metalwork factory where he was ambushed and defeated, ultimately thrown into the pot where his metal melded into his skin, giving him the most painful death possible. I watch those painful moments again, then again as the reel loops, and again and again and again and again-

The memories seem to form an infinite loop, spanning hours, days, months - I am unsure of the real time period, but to feel the familiar emotions of guilt and sorrow, it seems endless. I watch, unremittingly, the effect I have had on numerous people in my life - my father, my friends, even Lucy...

_As your father before you, everyone who dares love a beast such as yourself shall perish by your coveted fire._

The reel suddenly ends, cracking and shattering into millions of minuscule bits, revealing Lucy standing behind them. I blink, then I see the Fairy Tail Guild, doors open and beckoning for even people like me. I blink again and the entire building is on fire, its Mages glowing with red and gold and orange. I blink again and the building is a smoking pile of ash, blackened lumps peppering the ground around it. I blink again and Lucy is standing there, tears streaming down her fear-stricken face. I blink one more time; Lucy is gone.

"Lucy..." I mutter, reaching out and digging my fingers into the nearest thing, which easily breaks in my grip. I hear a whisper, which is replied by another low voice, not too far away. It should be easy to distinguish the individual words with my hearing, however the voices in my head are infinitely louder, drowning out all other sounds with the wails of my sins. "Wendy... Gajeel... _Igneel_..." I shout without truly meaning to, clenching my right fist and slamming it into another object. I get the feeling that I have been doing that for a while now.

* * *

An indeterminate amount of time passes before I calm down, then time stretches along as I am once more pulled into the loop: the memories, the visions, the shouts and attacks. The process is so draining, physically and spiritually, that I believe it was caused by an outside force, perhaps Jellal's injection. I start to wonder how his injection could cause something like this; it might be a neurological stimulant, among a number of other things. Slowly, my energy ebbs away as I think it through. If Jellal's purpose is to break me, then he has done a very good job. Then I wonder why he drew my blood if that was his only purpose. My original path of thinking is demolished as I try to decipher his ambiguous motives. I remember how the substance appeared to turn my blood blue; that would mean that it somehow affected my blood, and consequently the DNA within it. Suddenly, it makes more sense.

A dragon, whether the real thing or the title, is a very powerful creature. To have a bit of their DNA is to, in a sense, bottle up that power for your convenience, and although it can be taken, it cannot be used as easily. Dragons naturally repel any outside influence (for example, we very, very rarely become ill because our bodies' white blood cells have our magic's attributes and quickly deal with any pathogens) and as such, those looking to reconfigure our magic for any sort of purpose have a very long and arduous path ahead of them.

Anyone planning on using a dragon's magic would have a very powerful solution on hand, first of all. The most common mistake is to take some of the dragon's blood and mix it with the solution; the result is that our blood breaks apart the solution's chemical bonds, disassembling it. Forcing the material inside has a similar result. Another method is to inject the solution into the bloodstream, wait, and then take the blood. The difference from the latter two methods is that even when the solution is broken apart, it still remains in the bloodstream, which means that it will reach the heart with the rest of the blood. Jellal must have waited because he wanted the solution to merge with my blood in my heart; if I had to bet, it was meant to be broken apart as well, so that the effects would not be changed or muted when it entered my body. Then the remains that my body does not deem a threat can freely travel anywhere. Although, this does suggest that Jellal's injection had two purposes, one being for his use and another being to incapacitate me. He is a very cocky man, cocky and smart, which is a very dangerous combination.

"Lucy..." I do not know why it is her name that continues to escape my lip, permeating every thought with her golden hair and elated smile and effervescent personality. Perhaps it has more meaning than I realize; or perhaps I wish to think of her before I completely lose my mind. Either way.

* * *

"Crap! I'm sorry, Lucy, but I gotta _go_!"

"Sting, please-"

"I know, alright? He's your - _our_ friend and he's a Dragon Slayer, so I should stay, but he's producing _way_ too much fire. This vest is expensive, you know."

"Sting! Oh my - Gray, can you help?"

"Ice Make: Motherfucker Cage!"

"...Was that really necessary?"

"I described the attack. It's my thing."

"Well..."

"It's cooling down in here. His house is gonna suffer, though."

"I think that's the least of his problems. He's been like this for almost a week; even Happy's reaching his limit."

"Juvia tried to get the whatever-it-is out of his blood, but she said that it's deep in there and that we can only let it run its course."

"And you're gonna?"

"I don't have a choice, do I, Sting?"

"Hah... Well, I have to check on the Guild. Call me when something changes."

"Alright, Sting."

"Lucy, do you still think..."

"What, Gray?"

"...Nothing. Just... Call me if something changes."

"Fine."

"See ya."

"Wait!"

"Huh?"

"Sting said 'when.'"

"Yeah?"

"But you said 'if.'"

"..."

"Bye, Gray."

* * *

It is when the last of my magic is used up that my consciousness finally reaches the surface. I am first aware of a soft hand atop mine, one that gently sways from side to side. Then I hear soft breathing with muttered words beneath. "Wake up... Please, wake up... Natsu..."

"Lu...cy..."

"Natsu?" Her breath quickens with excitement. I open my eyes and shut them at the sunlight burning my retinas. Slowly, I open them again, seeing Lucy's face hovering over me. I turn my head, trying to assess the damage on my house; everything is either burned, torn, or smashed to bits. Still, she smiles at me, relieved to see me awake.

"Go away." I did not know that two simple words could hurt a person so much.

"What?" she asks. I pull away from her, sliding over on the couch and holding my hands up defensively.

"Go away. Please, Lucy."

She seems taken aback, then she smiles a little without humor, shaking her head. "You tried that before, Natsu. Your words won't keep me away."

"They won't." It's not a question; it's an acknowledgement of her statement. "But will my actions repel you, when the Fairy Tail Mages perish?"

"Natsu..."

"It is inevitable, Lucy. To have me around is to dig your grave and lie in it. Not for you, maybe, but for the others, Gray, Makarov, Sting-"

"Natsu, please!"

" _Please_ what? I am telling you the truth that I've lived by for all these years!"

"Natsu..." She's shaking now, but from tears or anger I am not aware. "If it's what Jellal did-"

"What Jellal did was clearing the false hope from my eyes, allowing me to see what's really there. I'm a _monster_ , Lucy. I kill anyone that gets close to me." _As your father before you, everyone who dares love a beast such as yourself shall perish by your coveted fire._ "You all do these nice things for me, trying to befriend me, but every time you do, every little gesture, it will only hurt you. Maybe tomorrow; maybe next week; maybe next year. Whatever the time, I am the cause of premature death. I am the cause of despair and agony for people, Lucy. And I care about you far too much to let you feel that hurt."

"Natsu-"

"Go away!" I shout. "Get the hell away from me!"

 _Bam!_ My head snaps to the side from the impact, but it takes a few moments for me to understand what just happened. I turn back to Lucy, whose breathing has accelerated almost as quickly as her hand, which is a bit red from the impact. I stare at her, eyes wide, until she grasps my face and shoves her lips against my own. I am unable to pull away, strangely. It is not because of her strength, which is very average for a human girl, or from shock. The dark voices in my head quiet, becoming so low I can hear my blood pounding. Then it's only me and Lucy in the quiet, ravaged furniture around us, lips connected as two old friends.

It is I who breaks the kiss, shoving her chest until she moves back, startled. "You insult my masculinity," I say. "Why should I be the consenting one?"

When she understands that it's a joke, she smiles. Then, "Why did you say those things, Natsu?"

I press my palms against my temples. "It's... I cannot say for sure if it was what Jellal did, but all of a sudden my... My mistakes were there, taunting me, and there was this voice saying that I'm a monster, that I'm a killer. It's true, Lucy. Wendy, Gajeel, Igneel- You, even, those two times."

"Natsu... Haven't you learned anything? You can't keep blaming yourself for things that happened years ago."

I don't respond.

"Hah... I'm going to tell the Guild that you're okay. Promise me that you won't do anything crazy."

"What-"

"Promise me," she snaps, obviously set on this.

"I swear on Igneel's life."

She moves back, almost tripping over piles of shredded tree bark. Then she goes through the ajar door. I wait until her scent and footsteps have vanished, then I rise, my limbs more than a little rigid but overall good. I go through the door as well, but I have a different destination in mind. Rather than the Fairy Tail Guild, I'm hunting Jellal's counterpart, Mystogun.


	11. The New Mission

I find Mystogun at the bridge of our original encounter; he is as shady and foreboding as that day, as well. The difference is that he has removed the cloth around his head, baring his face that is identical to Jelllal's. "Your name is Jellal, is it not?" I ask.

"In Edolas, yes," he answers unambiguously, "but in Earthland, I am known as Mystogun."

"Mystogun," I say. I think of Lucy, her tear-streaked face, and Gray, and Erza, and Mirajane and Makarov and Sting and Rogue and Fairy Tail's Mages and Wendy and Gajeel and Igneel and... Everybody. Everybody that can't be around me without facing the risk of imminent demise; everybody that treats me so well despite what I am. "I can't... I cannot take it anymore; I do not want to live everyday with the fear that I'll cause the death and infinite sadness of Lucy's comrades. I'll... I will do whatever you wish for if it will rid me of my curse."

"For a smart man, it took you a while to reach the smartest conclusion," he comments. I grimace.

"One more thing: can you... Your counterpart, Jellal, did something to me. I am not sure what it is, but somehow all of my mistakes are haunting me worse than ever; it's as if there is Hell in my brain, and I am very sure I can't take it."

"Don't worry," is all he says. "Preparations have to be made; bear with the curse until midnight, when I will return." With that, he stalks away, melding into the nearest shadows. I turn away as well, albeit more despairingly.

* * *

There is no change, whether in posture or design of the room, when Lucy returns; she smiles, thinking that I have obeyed her. Surprisingly, her misplaced faith only slightly hurts my morals. "I didn't know you could follow directions," she says, genuinely surprised. I have enough morals to not reply. "Are you feeling better, Natsu?"

"Yeah, a lot better," I say, smiling past the noise in my head. If Mystogun pulls through, it will be gone by tonight, and I can freely enjoy myself with Lucy. She throws her arms around me, pressing her face into the crook of my neck.

"Let's get back to the Guild, Natsu."

We suffer through what I believe is the most dismal walk we have ever taken. Lucy spends half of the journey wringing her hands and muttering incoherently under her breath. Finally, I grab her shoulder, stopping her. "Lucy, I can only assume you're kicking yourself over what happened, and it's not your fault. If anything, it's my fault for freaking out about you guys getting me a home."

"I'm not worried about you." She says it monotonously, yet it still hurts a bit. "I should've told you before... I've been having weird dreams since we met."

"Weird dreams? Oh, I know." I recall sneaking into her room at Fairy Hills and how troubled she was in her sleep, as well as when we were in Fairy Tail's infirmary what seems to be ages ago.

"You do? What, do you watch me when I sleep?"

"Only when it's convenient." She markedly does not find me very amusing. "Twice. Twice, Lucy, and I'm standing by my opinion that the situations were unavoidable. At any rate... What exactly have you been dreaming about?"

"Um..."

"You don't know?"

"No, it's just... It's weird; as soon as I wake up I forget almost everything that happened, but I can't shake these weird feelings of fear and sadness. I kind of remember a tower... Or was it a lake...?"

"How exactly do you confuse a tower and a lake?"

"I just told you I don't remember!"

"Calm down," I say. "Look, uh... The next time you have one of these dreams, write down whatever key elements you remember; we'll put them together and see what we can come up with. Okay?"

"You're in a good mood."

"I wouldn't go so far as to say that."

"Okay, well, you're not as dismal as usual, so that makes you in a good mood."

"I have decent hopes for the day." I pause, catching a new scent in the air. "Or, at least I did. Hello, Gray."

"Look what the dragon dragged in," Gray says, eyeing me with his arms crossed over his (as usual) bare chest. "Sleeping Beauty finally got his kiss, huh?"

"Are you jealous you weren't the first, Fullbuster? You can still give me a kiss - on my ass."

"Hah!" he snorts. Then he smiles a little. "Glad you're okay; the Guild's not the same without you."

"I'm not that special," I try to say, but he shakes his head.

"Every Fairy Tail Mage is special; learn that much, at least. Anyway," he says, turning to Lucy before I can come up with something to say. "C'mon, let's get back."

* * *

I have not known the Fairy Tail Guild or her Mages for very long, yet I believe the pandemonium that arises when I walk in is her grandest excitement hitherto. I am tackled by Romeo and Cana, who blubber (Cana's sobs being alcohol-induced) that they're so happy to see me awake (Romeo's sobs carrying the additional sentence-ender, -niisan). Then I am more literally (and painfully) tackled by Elfman and Bixslow, throwing me to the ground. It requires the combined abilities of Loke and Gray to untangle us, which ends with me getting tangled in another group mauling, this time with the women of the Guild - Cana, Erza, and Levy, who I didn't imagine could be so expressive - or strong. (Except perhaps Erza.)

"Guys," I gasp, "I love all this love I'm getting, but if I get any more love then I'll die a lovely death."

They did release me, however they did so when I already began losing blood in my everything. Erza, the main culprit for that, looks away, a flush of red the same shade as her hair surfacing on her cheeks. "I am sorry for my unprofessional behavior," she says, bowing.

"It-It's okay, Erza. Really."

I sit at the bar where Mirajane stands, polishing mugs. She smiles at me, or at least I assume she does; I have yet to see her without a smile on her face. "It's nice to see you back, Natsu," she says.

"Thank you, Mirajane. Can I get a mug of beer?"

"Sure." She turned to get a clean mug from the shelf. Meanwhile, I picked up a conversation behind me. Behind me, thirteen steps to the right, two steps south, and a hop to the side, to be specific.

"Is this mission really safe, Gray?" Lucy asks.

"'Course! And besides, you have me to protect you," he says with a thinly-veiled flirtatious edge. I want to shove a splintering post through my ears. "Besides, you need the money for your new place, don't you?"

"Yeah, but I don't want to leave Natsu."

"Please," he snorts. Then, more seriously, "He can take care of himself just fine, Lucy. Don't worry about him; you should start worrying about yourself some more. He and the rest of us'll be way worse off if you dropped dead from all your worryin'."

"I guess you're right, but still, he's..."

"If it would alleviate your worries," I say loud enough for them to hear as Mirajane hands me the mug of foamy beer, "I could go with you two on your mission."

Lucy and Gray look over from the request board. "Natsu, I don't think you're well enough for it," Lucy says almost immediately, wide eyes concerned.

"Lucy, please," I snort, taking a long drink. "I am an adult; I can easily decide for myself what I can and cannot do."

"Like showering," Gray says with a thinly-veiled derisive edge, covering it with a very fake cough.

"Gray, I don't know why you treat me that way when I feel so passionately towards you."

"Really?"

"Yes; and I shall show it with the ultimate form of passion, murder."

He looks like he wants to pick a fight, but this time he stops himself instead of Lucy, turning away with his arms crossed over his chest. "Whatever," he scowls, looking a bit guilty if I'm not mistaken. I could stand it if Lucy was coddling, but not _Gray Fullbuster_ , of all people; him, I expect - no, _rely_ on to treat me with the same contemptuous distaste. It is what I have begun to rely on as my monotony in my everyday misery, after all. "We could use him, anyway," he says, holding out a job request paper. "See? 'Rekindle the Village Flames.' Hothead'll get the job done."

"I'll do it," I say.

"I don't like it," Lucy says after a moment of thought, "but I can't control a dragon, I guess."

I fight a smile as I chug down the remainder of the beer. If we get through this with minimum difficulty, and things proceed as they should tonight, then this can actually be one of the best days of my life since Igneel died. If only I can be so lucky.

* * *

"Where are we?" Gray asks Lucy as he pushes a thick, gnarled tree branch from his way, a branch that immediately bounces back to slap me in the face.

"Half a mile from our destination," she responds, checking her map. I only believe her because I can smell fire's smoke in the air; the forest that we have been trudging in for the last two hours has neither thickened nor thinned, as if we've just been walking in circles... "Oh, wait." She stops, then turns to the west. "We should have turned that way a mile ago."

"Motherfucker!" Gray exclaims, moving past another branch that I fear has loosened my fillings.

"My thoughts exactly," I mutter, rubbing my reddened face. "Do you mind if I provide a quicker - and less painful - manner of transport?" They look at me, confused. I move in front of Lucy, motioning for her to climb atop my back. She squeaks a little but doesn't move. "Lucy," I say a little acerbically.

"Gray," she replies, slightly embarrassed. I look at him; he's watching us with a peculiar expression, neither jealous nor angry.

"Since when does his opinion matter?" I snort, and his expression shifts into unambiguously angry. "Alright, if it matters so much to you, I won't force you into it." I walk up to the closest tree instead, cock my fist, and slam it into the thick bark. For a moment, there's nothing but my slightly-achy fingers to indicate I did anything at all, then with a loud crack the roots dislodge themselves from the ground as the tree tips forward, slamming into the nearest tree ahead of it, which triggers a real-life version of the domino effect until the air is filled with sounds of falling forestry. Maybe I should feel a smidgen of pity for doing this, but the fact is I had to do the same thing as a six-year-old to collect firewood lest I freeze to death at night while Igneel basked in his eternal body heat, and consequently I have no remorse left for the so-called guardians of our planet. After a few moments, the path ahead of us is cleared.

"You took down a group of oaks," she says incredulously, so that I can't tell if she's mad or surprised.

"So?"

"You took down a group of oaks," she repeats, and I still can't understand her tone.

"You mauled the forest," Gray says, and he's unambiguously disconcerted.

"So? It's just some trees, guys. Don't kill yourselves."

"Natsu... You didn't read the paper," he sighs, flapping it at his side. I look at him, nonplussed, when I feel something bite my neck. I slap at it instinctively, thinking it to be an insect, but when I look at my hand, I find the remains of a tiny blow dart. That is the last thing I'm conscious of.


	12. Rekindle The Village's Flame

I quickly learned why Lucy and Gray reacted the way they did about me killing trees.

The dart that knocked me out was fired by the occupants of the nearby village, who apparently value nature very much, having remained in the forest, untouched by human technological advances, for centuries. As such, they are highly against anything that is detrimental to the environment, which includes deforestation and Mages such as I. The misunderstanding was quickly resolved, albeit with my waking up tied-up in the village square with a circle of spears aimed at my jugular, yet I believe that Gray Fullbuster will be laughing at that moment for decades to come; knowing him, he will most likely even pass the story onto his great-great-grandchildren.

"Gray, come on, the joke is over," I say to him as he remains on the ground, laughing so hard tears form in his eyes. "Gray. Gray-" I give up and send a blast of heat at him, which is forceful enough to flip him onto his back, the breath whooshing out of his lungs.

"I'll smash your face in!" he threatens, getting to his feet with praise-worthy agility and charging his fists with Ice Magic. Lucy stops him; I've come to think of her as the mediator between us, or at least the one that prevents either of us from smashing the other's face in, as self-gratifying as it would be. I sometimes question Gray's intense dislike of me; perhaps he also likes Lucy and sees me as competition? But if that is the reason, then I would rather let him have her, until I am sure that my curse will no longer affect her. (Although it _will_ very literally corrode my insides to see Gray with Lucy.)

"Let's complete the damn mission."

"It was an honest mistake, Natsu," Lucy tries, but that doesn't relieve the rope burns in my arm and the sludgy feeling in my blood from the tranquilizer.

"Whatever. Whatever! I just want to finish this stupid mission and go home before Fullbuster busts his gut."

"Hey," someone says behind me. I turn and meet the eyes of a young man with tanned skin and a long ponytail. "You're the Fairy Tail Mages, huh?"

"Yes."

"I'll show you to the village center; you should hurry, since I heard one of you really pissed these bastards off."

Gray looks at me knowingly; I flash him my middle finger in response. The man leads us through a few scatterings of people, through the strangely haphazardly-placed homes of the village. "So, what's your name?" Lucy asks.

"Tio," he answers. "I'm one of the few Mages in this village - a Crash Magic user."

"But I thought the village doesn't appreciate destructive magic very much," I say.

"They don't," he replies, his words followed by a clipped edge. The scent of bitterness radiates off of him. "I'm not really a fan favorite, y'know?" I could see it in the way the villagers turned to look at us passersby. To me, they appear passive - I am, of course, only here for the day - but to Tio, they give expressions of so many different flavors of distaste the scent is like a landfill below the dense weight of the forestry. "Right there." He points at a bonfire pit in the center of the stone-paved village. "The fire _supposedly_ has mystic properties, and so it can only be lit by a Fire Mage. Go knock yourself out."

I step up to the pit. It's large and circular, built like a well out of various-sized stones cut into cumbersome rectangles. The smallest one is the size of my palm; the largest is the size of Gray's ego. Inside is a covering of ash over what I assume is dirt, with a circle of powerless Lacrimas in the center. I lean forward to get a better look and I feel it instantly: the voices of a thousand years past. I recoil too quickly, causing Lucy to look at me in worry. "Is everything okay, Natsu?" she asks.

"Yeah," I say, regaining my bearings. "It's just...surprising to see a village that has retained its history for so long."

"Well, there's nowhere else for it to go," Tio says laconically, a dry half-smile on his face. He sort of reminds me of myself with his flippant, sardonic attitude. I never knew how much of a bastard I truly am.

"Fire Dragon's...Matchstick." I use my index finger to light one of the Lacrimas. The one I touch lights quickly, followed by the others in quick succession. My flames shift from orange to cobalt and blaze high enough that I'm forced backwards to avoid having my eyebrows seared off. The villagers cheer, leaving their homes and intimate circles to form a circle around the fire pit, cheering and chanting something in a language I am unfamiliar with. Only Tio remains of all of them on the outskirts of the circle, arms crossed and face pinched. "Why don't you join them?"

"Hell, they don't want me," he replies. "Not really rocket science."

"Just because of the magic you use... You're the same as them, aren't you?"

"They don't think so. The others, they have Wood Magic, Water Magic, that kind of pussy-ass stuff, but just because I'm the only one that bothered to read the age-old magic books and dig up something a little better than growing sprouts and sprinkling water - Hell, I use Water Magic when I take a piss, by that logic. They're just so...ancient in their ways, I wish they'd look to the damn future."

"There's nothing with not deferring from one's customs," I say, and I see in his eyes the displeasure of one who has been told the same thing over and over again. "Although, I will agree with you that that treatment is unfair, however, it is never easy to change one's habits. I should know."

"Damn impossible," Tio says, eyes narrowed a bit as he watches the village children play tag with Lucy while Gray stands off to the side, eyes veering awkwardly to the side as a young lady from the village teases him playfully.

"I would not go so far as to say _impossible_. Anything is possible, even when it seems impossible from one's limited viewpoint."

"Huh? Guy, dumb it down a little."

"I'm saying that they _can_ be convinced, Tio."

"Hah!" He throws his head back and laughs humorlessly. "I don't see how that can work."

"Yes, because you always have your eyes narrowed. Yes, just like you're doing right now. Maybe if you opened them some more, you could see options outside of your very cynical mindset."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. In any case, I do believe that an opportunity for your magic to shine out will present itself in due time."

"What, are you gonna dress up like a robber and lose a fight with me?" he snorts.

"Crude, but perhaps. Although, I do have a slightly better idea, yet somewhat similar, idea."

"And what's that?" he prompts, raising an eyebrow. I cross my arms over my chest.

"For this to work, you have to put all of your faith in me."

"Hah! Fat chance! I barely know you!"

"Well, hello and good morning. My name is Natsu Dragneel and I am a Fire Dragon Slayer Magic user." He rolls his eyes and I sigh. "I know how hard it is to trust someone you barely know, but just assume for one night that _not_ everybody in the world is out to get you, alright, Tio?"

He sighs, then groans, then moans, then rolls his eyes so hard I am surprised they don't pop out of his thick skull. "Okay, okay, whatever," he finally concedes. "What do I have to do?"

I smirk at him. "Well, for this to work, you have to _die_."

* * *

Although I've explained the plan twice to Lucy and Gray and thrice to a highly-dubious Tio, I cannot quell the rising trepidation in my body as night falls, leaving only the bonfire to cast its blue light over the village. Gray and I were invited to rest in a friendly old woman's house, sharing a room; Lucy has her own room, which I believe is the one thing I've ever envied her for. When the initial Get-the-fuck-outta-my-breathing-space battle between us ended, Gray, exhausted, went to bed on the cot on the left side of the small rectangular room, and I quickly discovered that he snores like his small brain is stuck in his windpipe. The plan, of course, is still going to proceed, but maybe not as good as it should have, since I haven't gotten more than five minutes' sleep.

"Are you awake?" Gray prompts, sitting up.

"Obviously," I retort, staring out of the one window in the second-story room.

"Is it time?"

"It was _time_ ten minutes ago; I simply did not want to wake Sleeping Beauty with a kiss."

I hear the sheets shuffling, then he climbs over me, boots and all, and pulls the latch on the window, shoving it up to crawl through. I mutter a stream of curses - couldn't he have given me a warning without putting his boot print on my face? - before following him, maladroitly sliding down the stream of ice he created and hitting the ground face-first. "Nice landing," he smirks. His pale skin is even whiter with the moonlight, and with a blue tint from the fire.

"It's nicer than your face, at least."

"It's too early in the morning to pick fights, Dragneel."

"Yeah, I know. I watched every minute pass by in waking agony. Did you know you snore like a Forest Vulcan with a chest cold?"

"Guys, you're being too loud," Lucy whispers, hitting the ground from Gray's ice slide and smoothing her skirt down. "Is he there?" I'm confused for a moment, then I remember that at night - especially a starless one such as this - humans such as Lucy and Gray cannot see as well as I, with my heightened sight.

"Nn... Yes, he's right there." I point at the black smudge of a figure against the fire.

"Alright, then. I hope this works, for his sake," Lucy says, eyes wide and bright. I really do like that about her, how she can care so much about those around her, even those she barely knows. She and Gray retreat to a blind spot in the village and I stare at Tio's silhouette, blowing flames into my hands. It's strange, using my magic to help someone else, since I've so rarely done it. Being a Fairy Tail Mage, it should become the norm for me.

"Tio!" I shout, walking towards him. He turns to me, initially appearing irritated before he remembers the plan and appears highly irritated.

"Huh? It's two after everyone decided to hit the sheets. What are you doing?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

He crosses his arms over his chest. "Want a little midnight snack, huh?"

"What exactly are you implying?" I demand.

"Hah! You know just as much as I do that the village's fire Lacrimas have magical abilities; tell me, you lit the flame just to get a good taste. You don't give two shits about us or our well-being."

"How can you say that?" I accuse.

"Well, you destroyed a good quarter of the forest," he points out.

"Honest mistake."

"Hah! I bet you can't be honest for three minutes!"

"Three minutes?" I make a show of looking around and sniffing the air. As I expected, several villagers are surreptitiously (at least to those with untrained human eyes) peeking through their curtains at us with the windows cracked open just enough for them to hear everything we say. "Alright then. So I wanted something tasty; what's the big deal, huh?" I say, mimicking Tio's syntax.

"Ain't your stuff, it's _our_ tradition."

"I thought you didn't like your traditions?"

His face falls a bit; though he quickly recovers, I realize that he is speaking honestly for a moment. "There's something hella wrong with ostracizing someone for their magical preference, but tradition isn't always crap, y'know. Like, this fire's been burning since the village was created, and it's seen everything that changed with it and everything that stayed the same, so you can't just eat it like that's all bull."

"Hey, it's not my home, is it?"

"Well, it's mine, and I won't let you do that so easily," he says, stepping forward.

"Do you really think you can stop me, a trained Mage?"

"Uh-huh, 'cause I'm trained- _er_."

I have to face-palm at that; I can't help it. Somehow, despite being eighteen or older, he has the verbal capacity of an eight-year-old. "Well, put your magic where your mouth is, Tio."

"Gladly." The ground trembles beneath my feet, then separates into squares that rise and fall like waves. My balance is thrown off, even by such a small attack, and Tio takes that opportunity to charge at me. I catch his fist easily and push him back; he digs his boots into the ground and takes a moment to regain his balance before swinging his foot at me. I duck instinctively and he instead hits a tree to my left, forcing it to explode from the strength of his Crash Magic. The squared bark forces us both to move to the side, and we end up together at the fireside, its lights throwing shadows over both of us. With its blue shade, Tio appears very focused on our "battle."

"You should step your game up, Tio," I say very seriously. Somehow, I'm as caught up in our battle as he is. There's just something about fighting all-out for the first time in a while; Sting was only a temporary reprieve from the long-forgotten rush of adrenaline. Here, with Tio, I feel the blood pounding in my veins, can practically taste the magic in the air that is emitted from our attacks, can feel the aged gears in my mind turning, calculating, planning. He appears the same way.

"So should you," he replies, charging me with fists raised. I catch his hands in mine and we end up deadlocked. "Doing stupid things, doing stupid things for stupid reasons..." At first, he seems to be referring to the base of our plan, but then his voice dropped. "Doing stupid things to people for stupid reasons, ostracizing them, leaving them alone in the woods...leaving them to fight for scraps...giving them looks like they're the plague...treating them like the red circle in a bunch of blue triangles..."

Tio is hurt, as brash and boorish as he acts, by the village's treatment of him, as well he should. We are doing this to help him - _I'm_ doing this to help him - but what if it doesn't work? Suddenly, I am acutely aware of the many eyes peeking at us through cracks in doors, through partings in curtains, behind the brush of the forest and curves of roofs. More so, I am aware of the voices in the corner of my mind, that thing I believe was caused by Jellal speaking to me. Somehow, it appears louder now. That distracts me long enough for Tio to push forward, throwing me to the dirt with a heavy _thump_.

"What happened?" he asks low enough for me to be the only one that hears it.

"N...Nothing. I'm alright." I bounce into a crouch and sweep his feet out from under him, causing him to fall as well. I pin him by the arms and prepare to burn him with my fire, halting at the last second by the sudden, crashing noise in my skull.

_**You're worthless! You're a curse! You're death!** _

I clench my head, falling away from Tio onto my back. The pain - it feels like my head is splitting two - I can't handle it - I can't-

Something is being offered to me, something bright blue. I groan and it's shoved into my mouth without warning. I swallow reflexively; it tastes sweet, yet aged, like good wine. I taste pain in it, a lot of pain, the pain of losing friends and loved ones, but the propagating ecstasy of receiving new ones. I don't understand; new friends don't fill the hole of lost ones, they can't. It's not as buying a new identical puzzle piece to fit the place of a lost old one. My blood feels hotter as it courses through my veins, the heat serving as a distraction over the noise of my mind. I blink repeatedly, trying to remember what's going on. I see the blue stuff again and realize it's fire; I take a bite without being fully conscious of myself, and another, and another, until the heat is the only thing I'm conscious of.

"Have a good dinner?" Tio says. Tio. Tio? I was fighting him. Yes. I slowly turn to face him standing there with his arms crossed. Then I slowly blink when I realize that the entire village is standing behind him looking...pretty damn pissed off. I don't even need to look at the bite marks in the fire to know that I've totally fucked up. "You don't mess with _us_ ," he says with a smirk, looking at his villagers behind him. I smell the change in them as well as I see it; they look at him with appreciation now, rather than loathing.

"You're lucky Tio ain't kick your ass into the fire!" a boy with curly blonde hair and a magical spear calls.

"Get the hell outta here!" an older teenage girl shouts.

"Yeah!" a pair of little boys shout.

"You heard 'em!" Tio yells, magic pulsing in his fists as he crosses his arms over his chest. "Get outta here!" Though he does wink with his back to the others, giving me a genuine smile.

I find myself outmatched and choose the best option - running the hell away. I catch Gray and Lucy's scents in the wood and turn tail there, feeling the air whistle as several spears and magic attacks miss me by millimeters. Although, I can't help but stretch my ears long after I've passed listening distance from the village, straining my hearing to catch the littlest noises. "You did great, Tio," an elderly man says. "The fire was only minimally damaged."

"'s nothin', Gramps," Tio replies.

"It is. Your magic, to all of our surprise, can be useful."

"I'm sorry I made fun of you, Tio," a small-voiced girl says.

"Me too," a boy says.

"Me three."

"Me ten."

Maybe I should be a pretend bad guy for a living. Although, something else is on my mind as I reach the end of the woods. Midnight is fast approaching, and so is the time for final decision-making.


	13. The Fight At Treasure Island I

Though I am late in arriving back at the bridge, so is Mystogun; he is absent when I show up an hour after midnight. I don't smell his scent in the air so he hasn't arrived yet. I don't know what the point in setting a meeting time is when he won't even adhere to it. I sit on one of the bridge posts, waiting.

"Waiting for someone, I presume?"

"Jellal," I snarl, hopping to the ground and lighting my fists. He stands a few feet away, hood drawn, but his scent is as clear as day to me. "What did you do to me, Jellal?" The effort to not just growl and snarl at him like a wild animal is herculean, but I manage to make my voice semi-comprehensible.

"That's unimportant at the moment," he starts, but I cut him off with a growl.

"No! You're going to answer, or else your guts will paint the streets.

"Can you trust me for a moment, Natsu?"

"No the fuck I can't!"

"Okay, well how about this: I will give you one piece of information about Lucy Heartphilia and her 'immunity' if you refrain from attacking me tonight."

"First of all, no. Second of all, even if I was somehow dumb enough to fall for that, how am I supposed to know if you're telling the truth?"

"Because you can smell a liar miles away," he says and falls silent a second after. "And because..."

"Because what?"

His expression becomes so grave he looks older than before. "I am part of the reason she is as she is."

I listen hard but his heart and breathing rate remain the same. He could just be a good liar, but his eyes tell me he is telling the truth. That knocks the wind out of me and pushes my train from its tracks. We stand there staring at each other for several seconds, both out of words. "Hu-hu- _huh_?"

"Magic courses through the body similar to blood, and like blood, it contains antibodies," he says cryptically. "This is the information I'm giving you to prove my reliability, at least for the next few moments."

"Like hell that's gonna help me!" I yell when I finally regain my wits. "I already know that!"

"Of course you do," he mutters. "I know you're a very smart person, Natsu Dragneel." This was also said cryptically. "In any case, I want you to trust me and not give in to Mystogun's deal."

"How do you tell me that when _you're_ the one that's made me so desperate?"

"That was an unforeseen circumstance," he says, and I'll be damned if that isn't the biggest bullshit excuse I've ever heard. "And before you call that 'the biggest bullshit excuse I've ever heard,' know that I truly mean it. That serum contained certain magic particles that amplified with the addition of dragon's blood; apparently, the result also acted as a neurological stimulant, though I can't say why it worked negatively. Just the same, it could have made you ten times happier."

"But it _didn't_ ," I snap, feeling the last of my infinitesimal patience boil dry.

"And I truly apologize for that."

"What is this? You're suddenly more docile than before," I snort.

"Desperate times call for humbling of one's spirit," he replies. "If you need me to get on my knees and beg you, I will, just _don't_ give in to Mystogun. You have absolutely no idea what you'll be starting in that situation."

As much as I want to clobber him, Jellal's right; I truly don't know what I'm starting with Mystogun, however desperate I may be. Jellal stares at me intensely, obviously set on getting his way. Somehow, that annoys me and makes me want to defy him more. "If not for me," he says after a while, eyes downcast, "then for Lucy, whom you love."

"This has _nothing_ to do with her, so _don't_ bring her into it," I hiss.

"She is already involved in a lot that you don't understand," he says. Suddenly he goes rigid, eyes fixed on something behind me. I turn to see a similar navy cloak blowing in the wind as another man approaches. I turn back for a mere moment, yet Jellal has already vanished.

"Are you ready, Natsu?" Mystogun prompts as he comes close.

"I dunno; I have to think about that."

"The time for thinking is over," he replies sharply. He says that, but I'm still thinking about what Jellal said. Why did he tell me something I already know about magic, I wonder. He knows that I know it, too, so it seems highly redundant... Wait, maybe not redundant. Maybe he's using repetition. Something is important about it, something to do with Lucy, but I don't know...

"Maybe this wasn't the best idea." _Maybe_ as in _I want to get the fuck out while I can_.

"Getting cold feet?" He chuckles for the first time, although there's no humor in it. "Alright, then."

"That's it?" _That's it_ as in _Motherfucker, it's_ that _easy to get rid of you?_

"That is it, because I strongly believe that within the next three days, you'll be begging for my help."

"What? What the hell are you planning, Mystogun?" I growl, feeling the magic in my body spike. He shrugs innocently.

"Nothing at all, however..." He reaches up and pulls his hood back, revealing that face that is eerily similar to Jellal's, and smirks. "Fate itself may be." I feel the increase of magic in the air before I feel the effects of his hyper-annoying Sleep Magic. Before I lose myself, however, I smirk back at him.

"Yeah? Well tell Fate that it's my personal mission to burn her to a crisp."'

Though I technically lost this fight, his angry glare is more than enough to soothe my injured pride.

* * *

I never truly fall asleep - maybe I'm getting an immunity? - but I do give Magnolia's local newspaper a very accurate description of Living Magic gone wrong as I go searching for the Fairy Tail Guild, which takes me a good few hours with my somnolent brain. I manage to get there just as dawn approaches, the dark sky streaking grey and bleached blue; a few members linger inside, namely Wakaba, Macao, Nab, and Vijeeter, with Mirajane's scent in the bar, but otherwise it's quite empty. I collapse into one of the corner tables instead of in a heap on the ground, dropping my head on the splintering wood, too exhausted to even groan.

"Natsu?" I barely recognize the voice and scent as the seat opposite to me is taken. "What're you doin' here so early?"

"Nothing important. Look, Gray, I want you to be on top guard for the next few days. Lucy, too."

"What? What's going on?" he asks, his voice tense. I raise my head to look at him, rubbing my jaw.

"'m not exactly sure," I admit. "Just... Please be careful from now on. Alright?"

He stares at me for a while. "...Fine. Are you okay, though?"

"Yeah, just really tired."

"From the mission?" he asks.

"No, but come to think of it... Where the hell did you two disappear to?"

"You told us to leave," he says defensively.

"Well I didn't expect everybody to turn on me so quickly! You should have been there for me!"

"Is it my fault you're weak?"

"No, it's your fault you're weak-willed," I say heatedly. A vein pulses in Gray's temple and he sighs, frowning. "Where's Lucy? Is she still sleeping?"

"Yeah, most likely."

"She's still in Fairy Hills?"

"No; I heard she got a new apartment, actually. Why're you so curious?"

"I just want to keep her safe, you know," I say edgily, expecting some sort of stalker joke from him. Instead, he laughs a little. "What's so funny?"

"It's a little funny, how much you've changed."

"What are you-" I turn as a new scent fills the guild. Guild Master Makarov walks towards us.

"Natsu, Gray, can I speak to you two in my office?" he asks.

"Sure," Gray says. "Is there a problem?"

He doesn't reply, which sets us both on edge. Makarov leads us to his office, which is small but still has that certain eclectic touch that only a Fairy Tail Wizard can have. "I've tried calling Erza to tell her, but she's still on a mission."

"Tell her what?" I ask.

"Lately, there have been several Dark Magic attacks on several other small-time Guilds in the northwestern area of Magnolia, and also, Sting of Sabertooth says that robberies are occurring close to his Guild's location, which are all causes for worry."

"So? Some Dark Wizards are causing trouble; that's hardly news today," Gray says.

"In any other case, yes," Makarov says, "however, there's a method to their madness." He raises his hand and creates a shimmering map in midair that forms the city of Magnolia in golden lines. He then highlights every attack with a red dot; Gray and I see the pattern.

"They're all attacking around the Guild," I say, connecting the dots with my orange magic. Makarov nods. "But why? If they want Fairy Tail's attention, it can be attained through simpler methods instead of just mindlessly breaking into Guilds."

"We can't be sure of what they want to do yet," he says, "which is why I'm giving you two a special mission."

"Us?" Gray repeats, glancing at me disdainfully.

"I'm guessing that the next Guild is here." He points to a Guild a few blocks away from Fairy Tail. "Treasure Island. I want you, Natsu and Gray, to stay there tonight and catch whoever it is that's causing all of this trouble."

"I can do that no sweat, Gramps," Gray says.

"I can do it with no effort."

"Nah; I'll find those Dark Wizards and beat 'em with one hand tied behind my back."

"I'll beat them with my feet," I counter.

"No limbs!"

"I'll strike fear in them with a single look!"

"Slanty-eyes!" he says, grabbing my collar.

"Droopy-eyes!" I grab his...shoulder.

"I usually don't mind your rivalry," Makarov interrupts, slamming his titanic fists into both of us, throwing us to the ground, "but for this mission to succeed, you two have to _work together_."

"Me?" he snorts.

"And him?" I snort.

"We're damned," we say.

* * *

"Hi, you two!" Lucy says brightly, her happiness dissolving when she finds Gray and I sitting as far away from each other as possible at the bar. "What's going on?" she asks me. "Usually, you're only two bar stools away from each other."

"Master Makarov wants us to work together on a mission," I say.

"Doesn't that mean you should be trying to, I don't know, get along?"

"That's like asking a cat and dog to get along," Gray snorts. I spin around to face him.

"Are you calling me a dog, Fullbuster?"

"No way; dogs are a man's best friend and you're a man's worst enemy."

"Do you want to take this outside, Fullbuster?"

"I'd be glad-"

I did not realize we'd gone forehead-to-forehead until Erza Scarlet appears and pulls us apart, a positively murderous look on her face. "Master says for me to keep an eye on you two and to make sure you don't butt heads," she says.

"W-What do you mean, Erza? We were just jokin' around?" Gray says, throwing his arm around my shoulders in a friendly way. His skin is ice-cold and clammy with sweat.

"Yeah, we're just joking, Erza," I agree, unwilling to get an ass-kicking so early in the morning. "This is my buddy; we wouldn't fight, no way!"

"Good." Erza relents and asks Mirajane (quite kindly, I might add) for a piece of strawberry cake. Gray quickly recoils, scratching his head angrily.

"What mission are you two supposed to go on?" Lucy asks.

"There were a lot of Dark Magic attacks on nearby Guilds; the Master wants us to stakeout the estimated next spot to see if we can catch the culprits."

"I can help, too," she says.

"I would rather you stayed at home, where it's safe."

"Natsu, I don't need to be protected," she counters.

"You really do, Lucy, from more than you can comprehend."

"Natsu...is this about your curse?" she asks in a low voice.

"Mostly."

"I'm fine, Natsu! Why won't you believe me?"

"I believe you, I'm just afraid you won't believe me," I mutter.

"What are you talking about?"

"Lucy, you don't know about what you can do, about what I almost did-"

"Then tell me, Natsu," she says heatedly. "I want to know; the only one that doesn't want to talk is you."

"We can't do it here," I say. "Later, after the mission - I promise you."

"Your promises don't mean much," she says, and from that one sentence, I gather she's fully aware of when I left my house against her wishes to see Mystogun.

"This one does; I swear. Look-" I take off my scarf - Igneel's scarf, the one he gave to me many years ago - and wrap it around her neck. "This is proof of my sincerity; I swear on this, the last remnant of Igneel's life that I have, that I'll tell you everything later tonight."

She closes her eyes, burying the lower half of her face in my scarf. It looks like she's smelling it, but that would be strange; she doesn't have my sense of smell, she can't smell the many forest scents and Igneel's fading scent and Gajeel's and Wendy's. "Tonight," she says after a long while. I sigh in relief.

"I'm going home, alright? I need some sleep."

"Yeah, that mission was exhausting for you, huh?"

"More so when I found myself alone against a village's worth of people."

She blushes, and I'm not afraid to admit I find that quite endearing. "I wanted to stay," she mutters into my scarf.

"Yeah... You're lying."

"N-No I'm not..."

"Lucy, you're lying, but it's alright, I forgive you." She raises her head, which is when I lean in and kiss her, not on the cheek but on the lips, which gets more than a few whoops and applause from the Guild members around us. "By the way, excuse my imprudence, but this is vengeance for that impromptu kiss of yours back then." She turns a very interesting puce before turning away and stumbling over herself in her attempt to get to the other end of the Guild. I smell Happy just before he lands on my shoulder.

"You kissed her," he says, surprised.

"Yup."

"And you're not embarrassed this time."

"No Happy, I have full faith that upon waking, I will wish to commit suicide from the simple memory of this moment. It is only serendipitous that I'm so fatigued at the moment to not care about what I've just done."

"Huh?" he says, confused.

"Yeah," I say. "I don't really understand it either." I don't understand it, but somehow, standing up to Mystogun has me feeling hopeful as I hadn't in a long time. Honestly, there is still the mystery of Lucy, which has only grown more enigmatic with Jellal's intrusion, but as I watch her blushing and shaking her head amidst the giggling female Fairies, I find that it doesn't matter what she is, but only that she is as she is. Then I grimace at my own sentiments and turn away. "Let's go, Happy; I'll buy you some sushi for breakfast on the way back home."

"Natsu, you're so friendly today," he says cheerfully, fluttering in front of me like a bird. I smile and wonder how long that will last.

* * *

The Guild Treasure Island is small - about ten or twenty people - but friendly enough, which makes me wonder why anyone would attack it. The Master set some Mages as guards outside and suggested we hide inside to catch the Dark Wizards by surprise. It was a simple plan, but every hiding place I chose, Gray also claimed, and this went on until a Mage alerted all of us inside that some suspicious characters were approaching. We had to hurry into the nearest hiding place, which ended up like this-

"Get your butt outta my face!" Gray snaps.

"Back your face out of my butt," I say.

"Why the hell did you take my hiding place?"

"I was the first one here!"

"I saw it first!"

"I smelled it first!"

Amazingly, he doesn't have a comeback for that. We hear footsteps echoing through the Guild, followed by the sounds of a magic battle; there's a loud "Oomph!" and somebody crashes bodily into the trunk we're hiding in, overturning it so that it lies on the roof, our exit. "Damn it," Gray says, his shoulder blades pressing into my stomach.

"Move."

"I can't unless you have some sort of Spatial Magic."

I groan into his back. "This is not how I want to spend a night."

"Like I do," he snorts. "Help me push and we'll right this thing."

"Alright - one, two, three." We push it onto its back; Gray climbs over me to push the trunk open, but he stops with his knees still on my chest.

"What?" I wheeze.

"What," he mutters, moving forward. I crawl out behind him and look up. There are two cloaked figures with very unfamiliar scents standing in the middle of the Guild, basking in the light cast by the moon. The members lie limply on the ground - unconscious, thankfully.

"Who are they?" I ask.

"No idea," he says.

"Here," the bulkier cloaked one says in a deep voice, pointing at the direct center of the Guild. His friend, who is still bulky but to more human proportions, stabs a magic stave with a foreign marking into the spot. I don't recognize the marking, but I do recognize the stave.

"You two work for Mystogun," I growl.

"And you are...?" the smaller one says in a gruffer voice, glaring at me with bright reptilian eyes. They seem so familiar-

"Natsu, you know these guys?" Gray asks.

"No; but I do know that they deserve a good ass-kickin'."

"Good enough for me," he says, pounding his fists. "Ice Make: Bazooka!"

Both of them dodge his attack, which is when they separate: the bigger one to Gray and the smaller one to me. "It's common courtesy to show your opponent your face," I say.

"It's also common courtesy to not spit every time you talk," he replies.

"You know, I hate funny guys. Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" He catches my fist easily, and to my surprise, his skin doesn't even heat up. Maybe he is a Fire Mage too?

"You know, I hate guys with pink hair." He throws me back with alarming strength; my sandals barely have enough friction to keep me from slamming into the far wall. I light my hands.

"Fire Dragon's Secret Arts: Exploding Flame Blade!" I don't catch the name of the spell he uses, but somehow, he stands completely unharmed. "Who are you?" I demand. "You're not the run-of-the-mill Dark Mage, are you?"

"No," he answers, and I smell the truth, but there's something else, too. I stare at his eyes again and feel something, memories faded with age trying to return. Suddenly he's charging at me - he's fast, very fast - I can't-

He slams into me with the force of a bull, slamming me against the wall so hard I see stars. My mind scatters for a moment, making it hard for me to piece it together. He's as strong as me - maybe stronger - but that's impossible. I'm a Dragon Slayer; the only Mage on par with me is another Dragon Slayer, and the only other Dragon Slayers are Sting and Rogue... Could it be Rogue? No; his voice is lower than Rogue's. My vision blurs for a minute, which makes it hard for me to see anything but his eyes. Those reptilian eyes that have no remorse...red as blood...they really are familiar... But wait, there is someone else...

My flames go out of their own accord as I grasp his shoulder weakly. His hood has fallen back in his rush, I realize. "N-No way," I mutter, feeling a serious throbbing in the back of my head from where it hit the wall. I'm most likely bleeding - and badly - but that's not my concern at the moment - it's really him, who he is. "You are-"

* * *

Author's Note - Damn cliffhangers. Anyway, this chapter turned out more sanguine and bright than I intended - the middle part, at least. My Natsu grows closer and closer to canon Natsu, wow.


	14. The Fight At Treasure Island II

"...Gajeel."

When I say his name, his jaw tenses. "Shaddup," he snaps, releasing me. Weakened, I slide down the wall to the ground.

"Gajeel, how are you - why are you - I don't understand."

"You're right; you don't." He kicks me in the stomach hard; it's obvious that his strength has increased within the last five years, because whereas he would've only bruised me then, he forces me on my knees, coughing and gagging.

"Ga-Gajeel," I gasp, "w-wha-what happened t-to-?"

"I'll tell ya." He kicks me again, this time in the side, and grabs me by the collar, bringing me up to the wall. He forms his sword with his free hand and holds it to my neck. "I decided I ain't like the idea of my killer going free."

 _Killer_. "No, Gajeel, I-"

"Your friends, they always die, huh?" he interrupts, digging his sword into my skin so that my blood beads on the edge. "That's what happened to me, eh?"

"Gaje-"

"Never bothered to tell me, eh?" He shoves his sword further into my neck, although he twists it so it's the flat instead of the blade. The strength alone cuts off the remainder of my oxygen. "That innocent act of yours all those years ago... Bullshit!" He throws me to the ground hard enough that I feel my left hand crack beneath me. I sit up and just barely manage to roll out of the path of his sword's swing, then I duck under his fist and prepare to counterattack. I'm point-blank, he can't dodge my fist, and yet...

"You can't hit me, huh?" he smirks, grabbing me by the neck and swinging his sword again. Just before it makes contact, another body barrels into us, throwing us apart. I find Gray lying on top of me and push him away.

"Are you alright?" I ask him.

"Yeah, but that guy's a real force to be reckoned with." He points at his opponent, the bulky one. He looks like a large, humanoid panther, stalking towards us with a sword twice his length. He grasps it with both hands and swings it at us; Gray and I scatter to avoid the attack, then Gray charges in, Ice Magic at the ready. I turn back to Gajeel, who is getting up with an angry look on his face.

"Gajeel, I swear that I didn't let - that - happen on purpose!" I plead, feeling tears prick at the corner of my eyes from the memory. "I didn't know back then that I-"

"Save your excuses," he growls, his sword fading into his fist. "Iron Dragon's Roar!"

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Our attacks, being equal in strength, nullify each other. "Gajeel, why won't you listen to me? Is it Mystogun? He tells a crapload of lies, Gajeel-"

"So he was lyin' when he said it's your fault I died?" he asked, raising his arm. I freeze. "Thought so." His body scales over with iron; vaguely, I realize that that's how he avoided injury from my earlier attack. "Iron Dragon's Sword." His right arm forms into his sword. "I got a second chance, Natsu," he says, a dark smile on his face. "Necromancy's a dangerous thing, but it gave back what you took, and now, I'll be taking it back permanently."

"Taking what?" I whisper, feeling every drop of blood in my body run cold.

"Life. _Your_ life _._ " He swings again, and I regain my wits in time to deflect the blow with my arm, lighting my hand aflame. I deflect his next blow, and the next, and the next, but he and I both know that I can't keep blocking forever. Sooner or later, I have to counterattack, however much it pains me - and that is a very grand amount of pain. "Why don't you fight back, Natsu?" he says, and I cannot tell if he is taunting or frustrated.

"I won't hurt you again," I reply. I am a second too slow in dodging to the side and he twists around, slamming the flat of his sword into my left cheek. I hit the ground hard and spit out a puddle of blood and a couple of teeth.

"You've always been annoyin', you know," he says, grinding his heel into my broken hand. I hear the bones crack further under his weight. "Igneel's goody-goody little son, goin' around savin' people in trouble like some hero, but in the end you were a rat that killed your friends. Killed Wendy-" he increases the pressure, "-and killed me-" he increases it further and I begin to lose feeling in my hand, "-and even killed your old man."

"Ice Make: Sword!" Gray appears and forces Gajeel away, but his reprieve is short-lived when his own opponent returns, swinging his monstrous sword and nearly decapitating both Gray and Gajeel.

"Hey, watch where your swingin', Lily!" Gajeel yells, pushing Gray forward. Lily grabs him and throws him down onto me; we both groan at the impact. "That enough?" Gajeel asks Lily.

"It should be," he replies in his deep voice, returning to the stave. I notice traces of magic hovering around it, magic that feels suspiciously familiar. Gajeel investigates too, which leaves us two alone near the wall.

"Can you stand?" Gray asks in a low voice.

"Can you?"

"N-No; that cat guy got me with his sword." He raises his hand as he speaks and freezes a deep wound above his hip. "What's wrong with you?"

"That's him," I mutter. "That guy's a Dragon Slayer... I thought he was dead."

"Maybe whoever's doing this can use Necromancy?"

It's possible, but from what I've seen, Mystogun doesn't use Caster Magic; he has only used staves hitherto, but it's obvious that he has more than a few secrets, so maybe he can. "Gajeel," Lily says, pointing at us. Gajeel comes over and pulls us up so we're sitting back-to-back, then he wraps Anti-Magic chains around us.

"Gajeel, don't do this," I plead. "Mystogun is the enemy here, not us, not me."

"Ah? Well, he gave me life and you gave me death," he replies, yanking the chains so tight I gasp for air. "Lily, do it now."

Lily puts his large hand on the stave's staff; Gajeel does too. The magic in the air - Gray and my own, I realize - is absorbed inside, then it pulses with Dark Magic. I watch as a dark line like a shadow ekes out from the northern wall across the floor like a snake and touches the staff; a second line is emitted from it and stretches out through the southern wall. "You see that?" Gray asks, his voice trembling a little with the realization.

"Yeah."

"You know what this means too, right?"

"Yeah." _They're making a magic circle around the Fairy Tail Guild._

"Is it done?" Gajeel asks impatiently. He was never one for patience, I remember.

"No," Lily replies, comparatively patient. Gray struggles against the bonds for a few seconds before glaring at me over his shoulder.

"Why aren't you doing anything?" he demands.

"I don't have the spirit, Gray."

"You always have the spirit!"

"Not anymore," I mutter. "You've no idea what it's like seeing him, seeing Gajeel and having him as an enemy."

"You're right; I don't," he agrees. "But Natsu, he's not on our side."

"I know, but-"

"No _buts_ ; he's not on our side, and that makes him an enemy of Fairy Tail - especially with what he's doing now. I don't know what happened with you in the past, but put it behind you for now and _help me save our friends_."

Our friends, I think. That's right... Our friends are in danger. Master Makarov, Mirajane, Elfman, Romeo, Cana, Happy, Macao, Wakaba, Nab, Erza, Lucy... They're in danger; I have to help protect them. I have to be a hero. "Gray... Cover your body with as much ice as you can."

"You got a plan?"

"Something like that."

"This might hurt a little," he says before emitting as much magic as possible, which causes him to groan in pain from the Anti-Magic chains; soon, however, there is a veneer of ice covering his skin, the cold so potent I feel it even on me.

"Alright..." Time to improvise. "Fire Dragon's Furnace." I feel the heat of my magic boiling to the surface of my skin and I try increasing it further and further, stronger than Igneel taught me, stronger than I've ever done it before. In response, I feel the Anti-Magic chains heat up too, even though they're supposed to be completely magic-proof; however, the inventors have most likely never experienced the true magic of a Dragon Slayer. I feel the chains loosen, then they fall limp around us.

"Hey!" Gajeel yells, realizing we're free. He starts charging at us; Gray puts his hands on the ground.

"Ice Make: Floor!" A strip of ice races across the ground from his palms to Gajeel's feet; he slips and lands on his side, which is when Lily leaps over his body and charges us. I step over Gray and raise my good arm.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" I catch Lily in the face, throwing him back into Gajeel as he's just getting up. Busy trying to untangle themselves, I run past them and grab the stave; however, every time I try to burn it, the flames fade away as if I'm underwater. I try to pull it but it seems to have rooted itself in the ground.

"That won't work," Gajeel says, raising his hand. "Iron Dragon's Lance: Demon Logs!" His hand forms a spearhead, then that spearhead forms several lances that aim at me. I raise my arm and light my hand, but my magic is too weak to do more than soften the blows, which push me back. Gajeel narrows his eyes as he raises his arms above his head, linking his fingers together. "Iron Dragon's Karma Sword!" He forms a much larger version of his previous sword, so large that the tip scores marks in the Guild's ceiling as he strikes down. I swerve out of its immediate path but he is very agile with it, spinning on his heel to shift from a downward strike to a sideswipe. Again, the flat of the blade catches me, slamming into my stomach and throwing me into the wall and onto my knees, disoriented. Through my blurring vision, I see Gray grab his blade as it comes back around and throws Gajeel to the ground; he's stunned for the moment it takes his sword to disappear, which is when Gray aims a sword strike at Gajeel's heart.

"Gray!" I shout without thinking, raising my shaking hand. I feel it heat up, but I don't realize I've done anything until I hear Gray shout. They stumble and fall away from each other, then Lily comes in and grabs Gajeel, who has stopped moving, and disappears out of sight. I hit the ground hard, feeling more drained than I have in a very long time.

"Natsu!" Gray growls, his voice sounding far away.

"Gray, I..."

"Ugh! Look, it doesn't matter; I probably would've done the same thing if it was Lyon and some shit, but still...! You can't move, can you?"

"No."

He grabs my arm and hoists me awkwardly over his shoulder. I stare at his back; a long burn mark mars his pale skin. "I'm sorry," I mutter.

"Never mind that; right now, all that matters is getting back to the Guild."

"Okay." I can't see anything but the ground, so it's a surprise to me when it shifts from Treasure Island's damaged wood to the sandy dirt outside. "What do you think...that spell did...?"

"Dunno," he grunts, adjusting me on his shoulder. I raise my head a little and see the black mark from earlier spreading onto the dirt and into the shadows, like a painted line. "You said the guy from earlier's a Dragon Slayer?"

"Yes."

"So he was a friend of yours?"

"Yes."

"What happened to him?"

"I...don't want to talk about it," I murmur.

"Talking about it'll help you feel better," he says, shrugging. "It did for me."

"I don't want to."

"Look...Natsu...I know we're not best friends - hell, I know we're not acquaintances, but you're a Fairy too, you're one of us, so anytime that you need me, I'll be there to save your ass - that's how Fairy Tail works."

"I know, but...I'm sorry; I don't think you want to hear the truth."

"I bet I've heard worse."

I bet you haven't, I think. I see him trudging down the long path leading to the Guild, then suddenly I have a face full of dirt. I pull my head from the ground and see him standing completely still, silhouetted by the moonlight. "Gray, what is it?" I ask.

"Something's wrong," he whispers before running forward, towards the Guild. I struggle to my feet and half-stagger down the path, watching Gray barrel through the doors and smash around into things, it sounds like. I smell a lot of different scents from the Guild, but something is strange about them, something I haven't smelled before. I finally reach the doors and feel a change in the air as soon as I pass the threshold. Though it is dark inside, my eyes quickly adjust, and I see the prone bodies of a good half of the Guild's members scattered around. I drop to the nearest person - Mirajane - and hold her face, staring at it closely. Her skin is still warm but I can't hear her heart beating.

"They're in stasis," I realize.

"It's that damn magic!" Gray shouts from the other side of the Guild. "Why..."

I turn my head to look at him, then I realize who he's near, who he's holding, and my heart becomes almost as still as all the other Guild member's. The world seems to fall away as I get to my feet, not even processing the pain of movement as I move across the Guild, passing by Levy...Elfman...Macao...Romeo...Nav...Vijeeter...then _Lucy_. Gray is kneeling down, Lucy's upper body propped up on his legs. I drop next to her; she appears almost like Sleeping Beauty, which Igneel read to me a long time ago. I touch her face, then let my hand fall down to my scarf. _I promise I will tell you everything later tonight._ How much for that.

"They are alive, just barely," I mutter, brushing her hair from her face. "As long as the magic is in effect, they will remain like this."

"Then let's get the staves-"

"I have already tried my hardest, Gray; the staves cannot be moved, nor the marks marred."

"Then _what_?" he demands. "Then what do we do, Natsu? We're not going to leave the Guild like this, our friends-" He chokes off, and that is when I realize that Gray has been crying.

"We will not leave them like this, Gray. The staves themselves are fixed, however the magic is still another spell, and every spell has a caster."

"And there's always one way to cancel a spell," he says, staring at Lucy with determination.

"Exactly," I say. "We are going to kill the caster. We are going to kill Mystogun."


	15. The Truth About Her

After Gray and I set the Guild members in more comfortable positions, we go and investigate every Guild with a stave, attempting to assess the damage Mystogun has caused. "I checked all of Levy's books," Gray says at the seventh or eighth Guild. "They record this as an ancient spell that uses strong magic - like yours, Dragon Slayer Magic - as a catalyst for a Dark Magic spell that can put any number of people inside the circle in an indefinite state of suspended animation. It maybe seems pointless at first, but without Fairy Tail, the city lacks more than eighty percent of its power. We have to tell the other Guilds - Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, Sabertooth - to keep an eye on Magnolia in Fairy Tail's place."

"That is a good plan, Gray."

"And you shouldn't worry about Lucy; you should be more concerned with yourself right now."

"How do you figure I'm worried about Lucy?"

"You have that look," he says succinctly, and I understand perfectly.

"I can't not worry about her, Gray. I love her," I plead. He stares at me, emulating my shock at a phrase that I have had so much trouble accepting being so easily conveyed.

"I love her, too," he says, "and everyone else in the Guild, which is why we have to put all our focus in saving them. Got it?"

"I understand."

Though it pains both of us, we race to the nearest Guild - Blue Pegasus - as quickly as possible. The doors are closed, but with a bit of Ice Make: Lockpick, they yield easily. Gray finds the light and turns it on; the room is brightly illuminated and, to be honest, resembles a casino without games, with a very plush floor, polished tables, and a bar. A door opens on the other side and something whitish-blue shoots out; before I know it, I am buried beneath five feet of snow. "Ren, Hibiki, Eve, it's us!" Gray says as I work on melting it with my limited magic. I do manage eventually, although I'm left freezing from the lack of fire inside of my body. Ahead of Gray stand three Mages in night clothes; one has dark skin and black hair; the other bronze hair and dark eyes; the smallest one, blond hair and a dubious look. They all relax upon seeing Gray.

"What are you doing here so late at night?" the dirty-blond one says, scowling. "We almost sent you to the hospital - although you look halfway there already. What the hell happened to you - and who's that?"

"This is Natsu," Gray says, jerking his thumb at me. "He's in Fairy Tail too. Some Mage put a curse on the Guild - everyone is unconscious. We need you guys to keep an eye on the city in Fairy Tail's place, alright?"

"Of course," he says, blinking. "But you guys look pretty injured. You want us to call Ichiya-sama?"

Gray paled. "No, we're-"

A low cry sounds from beyond the door, then a small redheaded man in silk leopard pajamas comes twirling out - by the way, that is not a hyperbole. " _Men_ , is that Gray Fullbuster I hear?" he says, appraising us with narrowed eyes. I get an inexplicable chill of revolt just looking at him. Then his eyes set on me. "This man - his _parfum_ -" he sniffs the air grandly, giving me another shiver, "it is an old magic I cannot describe." Then he looks at us again. "You men are injured?"

"No, Ichiya," Gray says quickly. Nevertheless, Ichiya draws a vial of pinkish-yellow liquid from I don't even want to consider where. He uncorks it and a very strange yet sweet odor fills the area; suddenly, my pain lessens dramatically, then fades all together. My hand, even, is as mobile as before as the bruises and wounds on my skin fade. I really do want to thank Ichiya for this, but the expression he makes when I open my mouth is borderline sexual assault.

"Let's get the fuck out of here," I say to Gray. I am doubtful that any human beings have ever moved as quickly as Gray and I have out of the Blue Pegasus Guild. "Even if you have to lie, tell me that Lamia Scale is more normal."

"I won't lie; they are. It's just one dickhead in there..."

The Lamia Scale Mages are just as unwelcoming to us, except this time I am hung from the ceiling by an Ice Make trap. Gray has to wake up the caster, a white-haired man named Lyon, and some other Mages to get me down, although nobody helps me not hit the ground from twenty feet up. "Gray, why're you here so late?" Lyon asks. "And who is...?"

"Natsu," Gray says. "Lyon, I need you to help keep an eye on Magnolia."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Something's happened to the Guild; everyone's in stasis and we're trying to get to the bottom of it. In the meantime, protect the city, alright?"

Lyon looks as if he stopped listening halfway through the sentence. "Is Juvia okay?" he finally demands. I grab Gray's arm, pulling him to the door.

"No, she's not," I say before racing down the pathway I know leads to Sabertooth. Gray follows behind, visibly winded as we trudge over several mountainous areas in the vicinity before reaching their Guild. Luckily, Sting is already awake, conversing with Rogue outside of the Guild's doors. He turns to me, and I immediately grasp the severity of his conversation from his lack of non-hilarious remarks.

"Did you smell that too, Natsu?" he asks. "A whole lot of Dark Magic-"

"I did not just smell it, Sting; I felt it as well, in the Fairy Tail Guild."

"What happened to them?"

"We cannot be sure, however they will be out of commission until we find the caster. Do you have any idea where to find him?"

He immediately understands who I am referring to. "No idea, but Rogue and the rest of the Guild members'll help watch over Magnolia in the meantime."

"Thank you."

"Oh!" He grabs my wrist as I try to leave. "One more thing. Even though we fight - you know, you fight me - we're fellow Dragon Slayers, y'know, and if you ever need help, just ask; doesn't matter what the circumstances are."

"I will take that to heart, Sting."

"You should," he says before releasing me. "You aren't alone, Natsu; I don't know why you act like it."

"There hasn't been much expressiveness in my life."

"Real sad story," he says honestly. "You have that sort of look in your eyes, like a dead man, but you're still alive."

"Barely, Sting, barely."

"Natsu," Gray says, catching my attention. He points out faded tire tracks in the dirt. "These look about a few hours old - long enough for them to have been Mystogun's."

I sniff the air experimentally. "Yes... His scent is here; he has indeed left in that direction." I point towards the mountains.

"Then let's go!" He starts to move, then stops when he sees me standing still. I shake my head.

"No, Gray; you, Sting, and Rogue go find Mystogun."

"What?" they say concurrently. Gray shakes his head. "What about you, Natsu? This is just as much your beef as it is ours."

"I'm going to investigate in Sabertooth's library; perhaps there are some clues about the Dark Magic Mystogun has utilized?"

"How do you know we have a library?" Sting asks.

"The question is, How did you not notice groups of books disappearing the last three months?"

Sting grimaces a little. "You'll be fine by yourself here? We don't know how long it will take us to find him."

"Trust me, I will be alright; I need to know what's going on before I can continue, enraged as I am with Mystogun and what he's done to the Guild."

He nods, then taps Rogue, who looks at me. "Be safe, Natsu," he says. I grimace.

"If only I could be."

* * *

Sabertooth's library is separate from the Guild and very extensive, with books from Lost Magic to cookbooks. I search the wings involving Dark Magic, forcing down the ache of old, painful memories in my chest to try to find what I am looking for. As I grow closer, finding more books on "the dark dragon" and "rebounding Dragon Slayer Magic," it becomes harder and harder to continue; sweat forms at my temples and my hands shake with each old, musty textbook that I draw out from its resting place. I spot an oddly black-leathered book near the top shelf and roll the ladder over, climbing carefully, hand over hand and sandal over sandal, my chest aching more and more with each rung I pass...more than anything, it hurts...

_"Daddy, look!" I cried in excitement, pointing at the ground. Igneel dropped his head to the grass to see better. I pointed at the stones I had arranged. "See, look? I wrote 'IGNEEL.' I can write, Daddy!"_

_Igneel grinned. "Getting closer to university everyday, eh, Natsu?"_

_I beamed back at him. Suddenly he sat up, nose in the air. I looked at him in confusion. "What's wrong?"_

_"Natsu, go hide in the cave," he growled, focusing on something on the horizon._

_"What, but Da-"_

_"Natsu, I won't say it again," he snapped. I clenched my fists and ran into the cave, hiding behind the thick, mossy-smelling ivy covering. I peeked through a crack in the ivy wall and saw something huge and black tackle Igneel, kicking up a load of dust as they hit the ground. The sound of bodies colliding and claws on scales and pained roars filled the air; I covered my ears, crouching against the cave wall and futilely trying to combat the hot tears pricking my eyes. I heard Igneel crying, big strong Igneel crying in agony, and so was Acnologia as they attacked each other over and over again, neither gaining, neither losing. I was coughing and sobbing and no matter how much I wiped my eyes or tried to plug my ears and turn away, nothing changed. Igneel was still out there dying, and I was still in there, useless, useless..._

The book falls to the ground with a loud _thud!_ I clench my fists and dig them into my temples, taking deep, shaky breaths. It's easy enough to talk about it, to act as if I'm telling someone else's story, but on the occasion the memories, long repressed, surface, I'd rather take Gajeel's fury. I slowly climb down and pick the book up carefully. _Recorded Appearances of Dragon Acnologia_ , it is titled. Hands still shaking, I open the book. It's a journal, I realize, written in blocky, heavy-inked scrawl.

"'Recorded appearances of Acnologia,'" I read aloud, swallowing. "'The meadows south of Argon-'" that is the village I was born in, the one burned down years ago, "'-| year X774. The forest east of Magnolia | year X778." That was when Acnologia...attacked...Igneel... There are numerous more entries written of places farther away, all the way to Crocus and other countries, but nothing else of here. I toss the book at the shelf, frustrated; if I have to reread any more passages on Acnologia, I will lose my mind, and if I have to when there doesn't seem to be anything of consequence to me?

The book hits the shelf hard enough to dislodge about a dozen others, causing them to tumble to the ground in a heap of covers and dust and loose parchment. Frustrated, I start kicking them and accidentally set a couple...ten...on fire. I do manage to put them out, but it seems that I now owe Sting around twelve hundred Jewel, which makes me want to kick them around again. I manage to restrain myself and instead check the books I didn't roast. In doing so, I notice a loose page on the shelf where I found the Acnologia book. I climb up to grab it and scan the contents.

_**THE TOWER OF HEAVEN | YEAR X780** _

The Tower of Heaven? Year X780? What I first comprehend is that it is two years after Igneel died because of Acnologia; it must have still been in the area. Then... The Tower of Heaven? I remember something about it being a place of Zeref's acolytes hell-bent on bringing him; it was a place of mass Dark Magic and slavery, which, if it all was true, then Acnologia's being there was not surprising in the least. Although I know I heard something else, something more about the Tower of Heaven in my time at Fairy Tail. Yes - Erza Scarlet mentioned it before. And she spoke about someone else there too...

_**HEARTFILIA RESIDENCE | YEAR X780** _

My heart drops like a stone. Heartfilia... Lucy's cognomen. Acnologia was there at her home - but why? And what did it do to her? "Why didn't you tell me, Lucy?" I whisper, shell-shocked, letting the paper flutter to the ground.

"She doesn't know herself," a soft voice to my right says. I turn slowly; Jellal is there, hood down and face repentant.

"Jellal, you were at the Tower of Heaven." It is an accusation rather than a question. He nods silently. "What happened?"

"A lot," he admits.

"Why haven't you told me earlier?"

"It seems I've underestimated your shrewdness, Natsu Dragneel." It is not phrased as an insult, but it may as well be for how much I want to punch him in the face. Actually, to be honest, I would still want to punch him in the face if I only saw him in a coffee shop. Hell, I'd kick his ass if he was washing his laundry.

"Yes, penalize me for not comprehending an admittedly vague clue about something I know absolutely nothing about. Now... How did you get in here?"

"Walking?" he says with a slight quirk of his lips.

"It is taking every last inkling of self-control I have not to pummel you into molecules, Jellal; this is no joking matter."

"I understand," he says honestly. "The reason I've approached you is to show you something at your Guild, Fairy Tail."

"Show me what? The lifeless bodies of my friends? I believe I'll pass on that one."

"Aside from that," he interjects. "There are some things there relating to Mystogun. Come; we will talk on the way."

I still don't understand how Jellal walks through the Sabertooth Guild unnoticed, especially when I do go noticed, and trudging down the pathway back to Fairy Tail, I question him about it. "How do you do that?"

"Magic," he mutters. "It's easier than explaining to several people how I am not Mystogun."

"I see. In any case, you promised to talk, Jellal; start."

"Start..." He looks at the sky, at something in the distant horizon. "I am from a faraway place, Natsu Dragneel, although I don't remember where; all I remember is the Tower of Heaven."

"The Tower of Heaven...you and Erza were there."

His shoulders tense a bit, and if I'm not mistaken, a slight flush creeps along his cheeks. "Yes, we were, several years ago. Things happened, things I do not wish to dwell upon, but when Erza and her - our - old friends left, I remained, taking control of the Tower. That is when Acnologia appeared."

"Acnologia," I repeat bitterly. "And?"

"By some miracle, our Mages repelled it," he murmurs as we approach our Guild. "That is when Acnologia instead sought the nearest source of magic on the mainland - which, by chance, happened to be on the Heartfilia's property." He comes to a stop in front of the Guild, bemused.

"What?" I ask, stopping as well.

"Mystogun's magic prevents me from entering. The bastard probably foresaw my interference." I glare at him.

"How do I know you're not lying?"

He sighs and touches the door with the very tip of his index finger; a sharp crackle of black lightning appears, forcing him backwards a few steps and leaving part of his hand singed, which he quickly resolves with low-leveled Healing Magic. "Point made?"

"Barely."

"Go inside, then go through Makarov Dreyar's office into the basement's entrance. There will be a room full of the Guild's items; take the faceted Lacrima and bring it to me."

"How do I know you're not just completely bullshitting me, huh? I don't know you for your honesty, Jellal."

"Point well made, however, what else do you have to lose?" he challenges.

Really, what _do_ I have to lose? I push him away from the doors with a grimace. "I do this, I expect more answers in return," I growl at him. "There are far too many mysteries in my life to make room for you, Jellal. I'm very sick and frustrated with being left in the dark, and if you don't talk, you'll end up in a permanent dark."

"You know, I have a strong belief that you set your hate on the nearest person you can find to divert it from yourself," he says, undaunted.

"You don't know a thing about me," I hiss.

"I know a lot about you, actually."

"What are you, some sort of stalker? Oh, wait."

"I know of you because I witnessed Acnologia's attack on you."

"No way," I say, entirely dubious. "You were in the Tower of Heaven which, if I'm not mistaken - which I rarely am - is based on the ocean."

"Lacrima," he replies. "Simple device, easy for checking any extreme Dark Magic sources that may be Zeref."

I don't know if I'm angrier that that's a valid reason or that he watched Igneel die with his thumbs up his ass. "Time is of the essence," he reminds me.

"Damn you," I mutter, pushing open the doors to the Fairy Tail Guild. I dearly hope I'm not making a mistake in doing this, but lately, all I have been doing is making mistakes.


	16. Looking Back To Move Forward

If my first journey into the Fairy Tail Guild with Lucy unconscious in my arms was anxious, and the second journey after her second near-death experience was daunting, this one is purely horrific, what with me going after some unknown object Jellal swears up and down is innocuous. Then there is the fact that I still can't really choke down what I'm doing; if I'd been told last week that I'd be out fighting for a girl I met days prior who constantly defies death, an exhibitionist Ice Mage, and the Earthland half of a whole bastard, I would have punched that person in the face and been on my merry way. I really do miss reality as I knew it.

Fairy Tail is even more ominous this time, if such a thing is even possible, which it might be considering Dark Magic has come into play. I try not to focus on the bodies around me, especially Lucy's, but their presence is just as much mental and emotional as it is physical; it takes an obscene amount of effort to walk with my head and eyes forward to Makarov's office, and I thank the Celestial Spirit King and every one of his acolytes that his body isn't inside of there as I open the door. The small office is neat and uniform, something almost unbecoming of a Fairy Tail Wizard, but I cannot find a door; there is only a window in the back. I want to tell this to Jellal, but I fear that I won't be able to restrain myself if I pass by the bodies again.

'Do you see it?' Jellal's disembodied voice says from my jacket's pocket; I dig around in it and find a communication Lacrima the size of a human eyeball.

"Do I even want to know when this came to be in my pocket?"

'I believe you don't. My question?'

"No, I _don't_ see it, and I'm honestly doubting there was anything _to_ see in the first place."

'Before you call me a liar, perhaps you should examine the window closer.'

I did. "It _still_ looks just like a window, Jelly; big surprise."

'First of all, the sarcasm is highly unnecessary and frankly immature.'

"It's my last defense against reality so please don't take that away from me."

'Place your hand on the windowpane.' I do so reluctantly. 'Exert your magic - just a bit.' I do so as well, and for a fraction of a second, the window morphs into something different.

"I should've expected this; Makarov _is_ a magical genius, after all," I mutter, not quite to Jellal but he doesn't miss the opportunity to reply.

'He comes from a family of practiced wizards; it's expected. I'd expect you have too, having the magical prowess that you do now.'

Though it's not as pleasing getting a compliment from him of all people, I still take it. "I've never given it any thought." I place both my hands on either side of the window and slowly start pumping my magic into it; the window changes before my eyes into a simple door, albeit with dual locks, and when I try to open it it appears that it locks from the other side. "It's locked; what now?"

'You know how to break things, don't you?'

I ball up my fist and punch the first lock; it cracks, and with another hit it breaks apart and falls to the ground. The other lock is in the doorknob, so I just use my index finger to melt the innards and try it again; it works this time, and the door creaks open to reveal a room bathed in darkness, although my night vision makes out an old cement staircase leading down into writhing blackness. I only take three steps down before the door automatically shuts behind me, and despite my extremely-above-average vision, everything becomes pitch-black. 'Natsu-' His voice vanishes.

"Jellal?" I try, reaching blindly for the Lacrima; it slips from my grip and I hear it tumble down the stairs and shatter ten seconds later. It's a long fall down.

I'm not sure how long I spend walking down those stairs, but it gives me a whole lot of time to think, and considering what my thoughts always lead to, that isn't a good thing at all. I think about Lucy, unsurprisingly, but also Gray and Erza, Elfman and Mirajane too, Lisanna and Vijeeter and Nab and Laxus and all of the friends I've made, more friends than I've ever made in my entire life; the thought of them keeps me walking, even when I can hear the steps crackling and crumbling beneath my sandals and feel the air grow thick with Dark Magic. I have to help them; it's only right that I do after dragging them into my affairs. After that, I'll leave all of them...including Lucy; but I have to tell her first, I have to tell her before I go, how truly special she is to me, how she's the first human, the first _person_ I've ever cared this deeply for, and the first person I've ever wanted to spend the rest of my life with - well, had these current circumstances been different. I want to tell her that I love her, and even when she doesn't say the same, I want to be able to walk away with my conscious cleared.

A soft blue light suddenly fills the area, and though I'm sure there were many more stairs, I step on solid ground - or at least its closest equivalent. I realize that I'm in a sort of glass room; the floors, walls, and everything inside is made of a glassy Lacrima substance, creating numerous reflections of the stairs and myself. I look around and see that the room is a very small square; there's only about two yards left of walking space ahead of me, and unless I'm missing something, there's no Lacrima in sight. I look up at the stairs, which disappear into the darkness above, then back at the room; architecturally it makes no sense, even if the entire room was constructed from magic. I take one step forward and suddenly the Lacrima substance below me shifts from solid to liquid, swallowing me in; it's darker beneath it, and the substance is so thick I can't breathe and I can barely hold my eyes open. I try swimming up but it weighs my limbs down like iron, pulling me farther and farther until the darkness propagates and becomes all-consuming...

I feel my center of gravity shift as I come out of the plasmatic substance, except it's feet-first instead of headfirst; that being said, I expect hit the ceiling, but it appears that I hit the ground. I wipe my face and raise my head; the room has expanded - or it's a completely different one, I don't know - and at the end of it is a wooden pedestal holding a crystal Lacrima, except it is being guarded by...me. I get to my feet, staring down my facsimile; he is a very good copy, down to the last few strands of my hair and the tassels on my scarf. My scarf, wow; he's wearing it, yet I'm not. How long has he been there?

"You can't move ahead," he says, his voice even matching mine. "The Lacrima can only be accessed by Makarov Dreyar or the current Master of the Fairy Tail Guild." Jeez, do I always sound like that? It makes me seem like a scatterbrained juggernaut.

"Is this some sort of defensive method?" I ask. "Creating a guard that can match the intruder to a T?"

"You can't move ahead," he simply repeats.

"If so, it's pointless; if we're truly equal, you can't guard that Lacrima any more than I could overpower you to take it."

"You won't be turning back?" he asks; I shake my head.

"There's too much at stake here. You've most likely been made with little capacity for complexities unrelated to combat, so this won't make much sense to you, but I've friends I need to protect, and so I won't be turning away without the Lacrima."

He doesn't say anything else; instead, he tackles me to the ground, dealing fast and fiery punches to my face, but they don't do much damage considering we share a primary magic. I grab his arm and spin us around so that I am on top; I punch him hard in the face, smashing his nose, and he decks me in my mouth, splitting my lip. Our blood mixes on the Lacrima ground and sizzles as if it's boiling hot; this distracts me enough that he twists me around and shoves my face down into the ground. All of a sudden it's liquid again and my head is submerged; I grab his arm and twist it, forcing him to free me enough to pull my head free. I notice little Lacrima crystals forming in my hair and pull them free; it seems that if I'm under for too long, then the Lacrima will harden again - with me inside. I wonder how many people have died that way before he grabs me by the neck and tosses me into the back wall; the impact jars my skeleton, disorienting me, then he comes and knees me in the stomach hard.

"You won't...stop me..." I cough even as he punches me in the neck, paralyzing my vocal cords for a second. "M...My friends...Gajeel's o...out there...too..." As black spots dance in my vision, I realize that that's the issue; my mind is so consumed by my worries that I can't put my head in the game. I can't stop thinking about them however, and even if I could, I'd refuse to; my friends can be a lot of things to me (or in Fullbuster's case, one), but never a burden. "I'll...beat you," I swear even with my own blood staining my chin and hands. "I...will...and I'll...knock Mystgun out...too...all of 'em... F...Fire Dragon's-" He grabs my face, preventing me from speaking, and starts pushing me back against the Lacrima; like before, it liquefies and I feel my head and shoulders sink into it. I grab his wrists and push back, locking us in a stalemate of strength; had this been any other opponent, I would have had a chance, but against _myself?_ "I won't lose to you," I growl, trying to push forward as I feel my head getting stuck in place. "I can't, I just cant!"

_"Hey, look!" Lucy said, pointing at a cluster of residential homes._

_"Look at what?"_

_"That's where we met!" she said excitedly, turning back to me; her eyes shine brightly in the moonlight, and the happy expression on her face makes my heart take off. "You may think you're a curse, Natsu, but not me; because of you I found Fairy Tail, made all of these new friends, and got to go on adventures! It's because of you, Natsu..."_

_..._

_"...because of you, you damn moron!" Gray snapped, pushing me back into the bar. "I woulda had that monster and the twenty thousand Jewel if you hadn't decided to take it all on your weak shoulders!"_

_"I would'a done a better job than you, Fullbuster!" I snapped back, getting the remaining eyes of the Fairy Tail Mages. "What could you have done to an Ice Vulcan?"_

_"You would'a found out had you not been as pigheaded as usual!" He sent a shock of ice across my chest that I instantly melted with my body heat._

_"Ya wanna go!? Let's..."_

_..._

_"Go! C'mon Igneel let's go!" I cried, pulling on his claw; he chuckled and lowered his head to mine._

_"What's the rush?"_

_"I met a guy today, another Dragon Slayer!" He was curious then._

_"Who was it?"_

_"Gajeel! He said his name is Gajeel!"_

_"Gajeel? That's Metallicana's kid," he said, his interest piqued. "Well, I haven't seen either of them in a while..."_

_"You knew there were more Dragon Slayers and you didn't tell me?" I punched his arm to little effect._

_"Don't get me wrong, I was going to," he said honestly, and I could smell the truth. "I wanted to make sure you were old enough to be nice to each other; Dragon Slayers fighting, after all, is calamitous. Then again, I don't think you can meet anybody without fighting them, but that's alright; you get it from me."_

_"Yeah! I wish I got wings from you, though; that'd be real cool!" I climbed up a large boulder and pretended to take off; Igneel caught me in the palm of his hand with a grin._

_"That'd make you an even bigger threat, Natsu."_

_"Exactly!" He laughed and put me on his head._

_"Okay, I'll take you..."_

"I'll take you down!" I roar, finally pushing him away; I thrash in my spot until the Lacrima crystals break, freeing myself. I hit the ground and grab fistfuls of the shards, and without any thought on the matter I shove them into my mouth and swallow; they burn my insides like nothing ever did before, making me throw up blood and fall on my face. The Lacrima almost swallows me whole, but I burn it away with my dragon's fire, with Igneel's fire, with the fire fueled by these raw emotions. The other Natsu, he's scared, and I realize how familiar that expression is on my face; I've been scared for as long as I've known Acnologia's curse, but now I realize that it's just as much a part of me as an arm, that fearing it won't do anything but aggrandize it. I can't overpower that magic as long as I live, nor can I seek a shady way out in the form of Mystogun, but like Igneel, I have to stand and keep my head forward; I'll find a way, I surely will, but not as long as my path's impeded by some egotistical Mage from another universe. "Flames of my left hand and flames of my right hand..." I can feel my own heat, and it's intense; my fire is taking up half of the space in the room and it's still growing. "Put them together and make Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"

It _is_ brilliant, I realize, the flame of friendship in my heart.


	17. Improbability

When I exit the Fairy Tail Guild, depleted and all-around sore, Jellal is still waiting; behind him, the sun is beginning to rise. I shove the Lacrima into his waiting hand, irritated. "A little warning would have been appreciated, you bastard."

"Honestly, I had no idea of what would be in there," he says, eyeing my injuries. "Although it seems to have been quite a threat."

"That's an understatement; in any case, my answers are due."

"Fine," he says. "But first, Kardia Cathedral."

"Why there?"

"The Lacrima," he says cryptically, and judging by the answers he has already given me, I'd save my breath by not asking. The walk there feels shorter than usual, maybe because there's less time to waste now, maybe because I feel lighter all around; he pushes open the doors and we walk to the altar. "What did I tell you earlier?"

"Of the truth? That it was your fault."

"Right," he says, and he has shame enough to look disheartened.

"You said that Acnologia was attracted by the nearest source of magic."

"Right... The nearest source of magic was on the mainland - the Heartfilia's village, to be specific. Due to Acnologia's nature, it couldn't leave without first causing some sort of mayhem; that mayhem was attacking the closest source of magic, Lucy Heartfilia."

"Lucy..." Jellal just nods, staring at the stained-glass mural above the altar, searching for something...

"The Heartfilias of course had strong Mage bodyguards, and although they couldn't defeat Acnologia, they managed to send it on its way as well, but the damage had been done; Lucy was dying from her injury, which was infused with Acnologia's very potent Dark Magic. The strongest healers tried to help, but they couldn't do a thing; she was going to die and they all knew it. The servants, the workers, Jude Heartfilia all said their goodbyes; Lucy was very young at the time - she couldn't quite understand - and yet she knew that she was going. Then Layla Heartfilia, her mother..." He stops, perplexity crossing his features.

"Your pauses aren't as dramatic as you think."

"No, it's just puzzling... It seemed that Layla absorbed Acnologia's Dark Magic into herself. I'm not sure how; perhaps her Celestial Magic allowed her to, but whatever the case, this saved Lucy's life but shortened her on. A short time after, Layla passed from a sickness and Lucy had no memories of the incident, although there were always remnants of that Dark Magic within her body. I told you a while ago that magic, like blood, has antibodies; the attack of Acnologia's magic on her body created a sort of immunity within her; consequently, Dark Magic had little or no effect on her from then on, as Acnologia's always nullified the effects."

"Then that's why my curse never had an effect on her? because it was caused by Acnoliga's Dark Magic and it nullifies against hers?" He nods. "She also said she had dreams related to the incident, including parts she shouldn't have known such as Acnologia's attack on the Tower of Heaven."

"I can't explain that part," he says, shaking his head. "But now you know my part of the truth."

"Then what about my blood, genius? What did you need that for?"

"I was trying to create a magic potion that could oppose the effects of Mystogun's Dark Magic," he explains. "I didn't know what he was attempting to do specifically, but I knew that I would need something strong, and what's stronger than a dragon?"

"And it didn't work?"

"Not nearly enough."

I mentally put the puzzle pieces together; Lucy was immune to Acnologia's magic from an incident a long time ago, which is why my curse (which was caused by Acnologia) doesn't affect her. Jellal, the one who brought Acnologia to the land in the first place, heard that his Edolas counterpart, Mystogun, was trying to re-summon it for whatever reason, and attempted a potion made with my blood to counteract his Dark Magic, which failed. Although I still can't see why Mystogun would have needed Acnologia in the first place, I feel better about being out of the dark, and another thing; this means that I can actually be with Lucy, no fears at all, but not with her staying around the Fairy Tail Mages, since it would still put _their_ lives in danger. Maybe, if I asked her to run away with me... No, that would be far too selfish.

"And what are you trying to do now?"

"Magnolia supposedly has a defense system created as a last resort in times of extreme crisis," he says. "I believe Mystogun is crisis enough."

"The Lacrima?"

"It's the key to activate it, entrusted to the most responsible Mage in the city."

"Really, I don't believe you can know this much about other people's business, Jellal."

"I was...am a very privy person, Natsu." He looks up and points at a small patch of blue glass that is slightly more circular than the rest. "I believe it's that one... Can you give me a boost?" I lock my fingers together and lower my hands; Jellal uses them as a foothold and smashes the glass with his fist before sliding Makarov's Lacrima inside. The rest of the stained glass glows before becoming completely gold; he hits the ground and grabs my wrist, pulling me towards the doors. "Come on; we have to see if it works."

We get outside in time to see a translucent golden barrier form around Magnolia's limits; as soon as it closes at its apex, it vanishes from sight, and just in time as well. Blotting out the moon is a large cloud of Dark Magic, more than enough to kill even the better Mages; it crawls along the invisible surface of the barrier, poking and prodding but not making it inside. "This will hold?" I ask him.

"Assuming Mystogun doesn't have any Edolas tricks up his sleeve, but considering they lack our type of magic, we're most likely safe. Now, do you have any idea where he is?"

"The mountains; Gray, Sting, and Rogue were headed his way earlier."

"How long ago?"

I scratch my head, confused; time has gotten a little...strange...for me. "I'm...not sure."

"Well, it only takes half an hour to reach the mountains from here," Jellal says. "If they made it, then they would still be fighting him or, better yet, finding their way through his defenses. We have to go there as well."

"But wait; Lucy shouldn't have been infected by Mystogun's Dark Magic then, and she's still at the Guild-"

"That's not a problem; Lucy is a Mage just like you and me," he says with a new expression. "Don't you have confidence in her abilities therefore?"

She's a Celestial Spirit Mage, I think. Not a weak helpless thing for me to protect. "...Yes, I believe in her. Let's go get Mystogun."

Jellal goes to a nearby stable and, in his words, "borrows" two horses, a chestnut-colored one and a lighter tan one; I mount mine and we start riding down the dirt pathway, the grey sky streaking by the horizon. I grip my horse's reins tightly, fearing for not only Fairy Tail, but the rest of the city and maybe even the whole of Fiore in the face of Mystogun's plans. It's scary...it's terrifying actually, and I haven't felt fear in a long time, but I keep looking forward as Magnolia dissolves into forestry and dirt and the mountains in the distance grow larger. "Jellal, what if we _don't_ succeed?" I ask, and although it's out of the blue it's something that's been weighing on both of us nevertheless; he takes a long time to answer or even acknowledge the question, making a small noise in the back of his throat.

"Then Mystogun wins and Earthland falls to his Dark Magic."

"That's a morbid thought to have."

"They keep us centered." I lock my eyes on the cloud of darkness, which are centered on the tallest mountain point; I can't imagine us getting up there before the Dark Magic poisons the air too much to breathe. Even before that, the horses become agitated as the ground gets rockier beneath the ivy cover; we can't get much farther like this. "I can't smell Gray, Sting and Rogue, nor do I sense their magic. You don't think...?"

"I don't want to give it a definite, but it _is_ Mystogun we're talking about." I hate to think that Mystogun's already captured them, or even-

"We won't-"

"We'll make it," he says, almost reading my mind. "Trust me."

"Just be glad I have reason enough to," I grumble. I sense something is amiss, but before I can alert Jellal a bolt of Dark Magic collides with the ground ahead of us, throwing us to the ground; I look up in time to see the horses scatter as the trees topple from the force. "I told you, Jellal, that we won't make it! Damn it all!" I pound at the nearest tree, instantly breaking it into wood chips. "Fairy Tail... Gajeel... Lucy..."

"Don't lose hope, Natsu," Jellal says, grabbing my arm and taking out a Lacrima; I recognize it as the type that seals a certain amount of magic inside, not necessarily the caster's. "I lost hope a long time ago, and because of that I lost Erza and the rest of my friends. As long as you have hope, you'll have a change." He squeezes the Lacrima tightly; it emits a bright golden light that blinds me to everything, then when I look again I realize that we're halfway up the mountain. The forest is blowing in the face of a typhoon-like wind; the Dark Magic cloud is still advancing too, clouding around Magnolia like the night sky on a firefly. I fear for the moment that Magnolia's shield breaks, the sheer amount of darkness snuffing out the pure Mages' light, and race ahead before Jellal can get to his feet. Though the incline is severe, it's nothing compared to a dragon's resilience; I have to stop only for Jellal, and my patience is wearing thin with that. I feel my chest ache with the extreme pressure of magic and turn to him.

"This is like Era's magic cannon," he said.

"What? What's that?"

"A bad memory," he mutters. "But that's beside the point; that cannon houses over two-point-seven million ideas of magic." [Author's Note - This is from the Tower of Heaven Arc in the manga, not the anime, so they may have changed the translation in the dub/sub.]

"Two-point... That might even be more than all the Mages in Fiore can hold."

"That's exactly why Mystgun is so dangerous." He has to stop again and frankly I don't have the time nor patience; I hoist Jellal onto my back and break at full speed, my mind set on burning Mystogun's invisible face to nothingness. "Natsu-"

"What the hell's the problem no-" I stop cold, almost sliding from the sandy ground, as a mass of black and blue soars through the air with a tumultuous roar; it circles the mountaintop twice before coming to a stop, lifeless eyes setting on me. I drop Jellal reflexively, then I hit the ground as a sack full of rocks; I feel just as agile as a sack full of rocks as well. I can't...oh, King of Celestial Spirits...I can't even raise my head... This aura, this sense of massive strength and unadulterated killing sense is dredging up every negative thought and bad memory in my brain; I can't...I shouldn't dare look at such a being, but it's-

_Oh, is that Igneel's boy?_

I feel the mountain itself shake as Acnologia digs its claws into the stone, locking itself to the mountain and looking straight at me. I have no words, no response; I can't even breathe right now, can't blink, can't move...

_How long has it been? Ten years? I'd have thought you'd be avoiding people like the plague, all things considered._

"Acnologia," Jellal says, staring it down; it finally looks away from me at him, releasing my imaginary restraints.

_Jellal Fernandez of the Tower of Heaven; what are you doing trying to help people now?_

"The better question is what are you doing here?"

Acnologia doesn't respond immediately; it releases the mountain, causing a flood of boulders and dust to break away from the sides and rain down on us. Jellal grabs my shoulder and holds out the Lacrima again; this time, we are teleported closer to the peak, and the Lacrima instantly shatters. "That's all for the Teleportation Magic," he says. "...Natsu, are you alright?" He does not really wait for an answer, instead punching me in the face hard enough to break my nose.

"Y...No, I'm not alright," I admit, staunching the flow of blood with my sleeve, "but I never was. Where is it?"

He doesn't ask what it is. "It's...gone."

"You're messing with me." I look anyway, and to my mortification, Acnologia is gone. Impossible! With all of this Dark Magic, it wouldn't dare leave the vicinity; it has to be here, but it's a little hard to miss a hundred foot-long dragon. I start to panic, then I detect a voice; I initially believe it to be Jellal, but it's coming from the mountain's plateau.

"I thought that this much darkness would pique your interest, Acnologia."

"Hmph." It does sound like Acnologia, but...smaller. It sounds almost human.

"I have a request to ask."

"I don't owe a human anything; as a matter of fact, I should level this entire area because you've wasted my time in bringing me here."

"Jellal," I urge. "Can you hear this?"

"Hear what?" he asks. Right, he has weaker hearing. I try to repeat everything I hear, but it becomes harder to keep up.

"I have an artifact you might be interested in," Mystogun says.

"Oh?" I smell something funny, although I can't quite say what it is. "..."

"So?"

"Hmph... What is the favor?"

"You're most likely aware already, that I'm not from Earthland."

"...?"

"Well, I want your magic for my world, Edolas; magic there is limited, and because of that, the kingdom suffers. ... ... ..."

"Natsu?" Jellal presses; I realize I've stopped and turn towards him.

"There's nothing we can do," I finally realize, and I raise my arms just as the side of the mountain blows apart; my fire repels the blunt of the rocks, but it doesn't last very long with my diminished amount of magic. We start falling, the boulders and trees that were previously attached to the rock falling with us; I try to repel them as best as I can, Jellal too, but we have little magic to spare. I grab his arm, prepared to use the last of my fire to grab onto the mountainside, when a dark-skinned human with long blue hair manifests a few inches above me.

"Don't think I didn't notice you, Igneel's son," Acnologia says, grabbing my shoulder and locking its fierce eyes with mine. "That guy was an indescribable pain. The great Acnologia sparing magic for a bunch of humans in a world he doesn't even know about? It's a waste. Looks like I'll level this place after all, but first, I need some more power." It curls its human hand into claws and stabs into my chest, breaking my ribs apart to reach directly into my source of magic; he then pulls out a big ball of magic in the shape of black fire. I've never once seen it before, not even in my dreams, but I'll be forever damned if I don't know what that is and what this means for me. "See, you've gotten your wish: the curse is gone. Not that you'll live long enough to enjoy it." It releases me, but I can't shake the terrifyingly cold sensation pulsing through me as my blood leaves my body in gallons. I can't die, I think. I can't... I CAN'T!

...

And yet...the sky is disappearing before my eyes...

Well...

Let there be one last thing that I do...or to say it better, one last thing that I _can_ do... I won't be selfish and say this is for my friends only; this is for the city, for Fiore and whoever else has become Acnologia's victim in all of the years it's lived. But I can be selfish and say that I don't want to do this because I don't want to die, simply because there's still a world ahead of me that I've yet to see. I've never had dreams or aspirations, not since that day ten years ago, but Fairy Tail has given me what I never asked for, but really needed. I remember, at a time, Makarov telling me about the name, that the question "Do fairies have tails?" represents the endless adventure the Mages strive for; it seemed strange and incomprehensible to me what seems like eons ago, but now I can fully understand that need for something new, something incredible, something you can only find by standing on your own two feet and walking forward through the light, which I've not done in so long... An adventure is moving forward with one's head held high, not turned back or hanging wearily; an adventure is conquering all sorts of demons and seeing sights one could never see and doing things one could not do and being someone that one could not be and making friends and enemies and realizing that life itself is the adventure if you care to live it. I didn't care to live it before, but now...

I start crying even though I can't feel the tears on my cheeks. Maybe I won't be able to go on any more adventures, but the others will, and for a guy like me, that's all that matters.


	18. A Fighting Chance

_**-P.O.V. CHANGE-** _

_"I promise that I'll tell you everything when I get back."_ But you never came back, did you, Natsu? This place, it feels cold, dark, empty... I'm alone, and it's so scary; it's just like back then, except I don't have-

"Don't be scared, Lucy; I'm here," a warm and comforting voice say as a person wraps me in their arms; it wasn't Natsu, but still, the darkness became brighter.

"Mama," I whisper, awed; tears run down my cheeks as she smiles at me, just as beautiful as before she became sick in one of her lovely red dresses. I fell to my knees and she did too; she just held me for a very long time as I cried, not saying a word.

"It's okay, Lucy, it's okay..."

"No, it's not," I sniffle. "My friends, they're... Mama, what's going on?"

"It's...a lot to explain, sweetheart," she says, pushing away to look me in the eyes. "It started a long time ago. There was this dragon, a very evil dragon that was once a man named Acnologia; it came to our home years ago, and though we sent it off, it hurt you badly, Lucy."

"What? I don't remember this..."

"The Mages thought that it would be better if you didn't, but I've always wanted to tell you," she says. "Acnologia poisoned you with its Dark Magic; you were dying and we had to watch it. As your mother, it hurt me twice as much as it hurt you; I wanted to do something, but what? Then I realized that I could do something: I could take the Dark Magic into my own body, thereby saving you."

"But... But you got sick, and you..." She smiled.

"You lived, Lucy; as a mother, that's all I could ever want. Still, I left a bit of my magic inside of you; I couldn't remove the Dark Magic totally, and I feared that it would rise again, but instead you were taken over by a completely different magic. There is a man, Mystogun, from a world called Edolas; he marked Magnolia with a magic circle of Dark Arts, turning all of the etherion in the air into Dark Magic. The darkness has brought back Acnologia; he wants it so that he can refuel Edolas, which has limited magic unlike our world, but Acnologia is a selfish person that wouldn't help anybody, not for anything."

"I used to have Acnologia's magic in my body...does that mean that Dark Magic can't work on me now?" It would explain Natsu's curse, and I expect her nod.

"Yes, to a very high extent."

"How do you know all of this?" I ask her; she squeezes my hands.

"I've known what he's planned to do for just as long; my Spirits - or rather, they're yours now - have kept an eye on Magnolia back then. But that's all besides the point; the city is in trouble, and maybe even all of Fiore. You'll need Fairy Tail to beat Acnologia, but only you can help the one that truly needs saving." I know who she means instantly.

"Mama..." She brushes my hair back and kisses my forehead.

"I'm happy that you've found friends and even one special man; please protect them all, and don't forget that Mama is always with you."

"Wait," I plead as the darkness returns. "Mama don't go! Don't go!"

I sit up quickly, tears on my face, but Mama's not here; I'm back in the Guild, the others lying unconscious around me. I want to just sit there and cry, but that would be useless; I have to stand up like a Mage and help set things right. It's true that there's a lot of Dark Magic in the Guild, but if Mama's right, then I can cancel it out; hopefully it works on people other than myself. I see Erza lying next to me and I take her hand, concentrating on I don't even know what; my magic flows into her and her eyes flash open. "Lucy," she says, surprised. "What-"

"I don't have time to explain," I tell her. "My magic's inside of you now too; you have to help me." I revive Elfman next, then Mirajane, Lisanna, and Levi; Erza brings back Nav, Laki, Laxus, and Cana. Together, we bring back all of the Fairy Tail Mages; awake and alert, they gather together in the face of this new battle. "Everyone, please listen!" I say. "There's this Mage named Mystogun out there that's planning to bring Acnologia here!" There are a chorus of gasps around the room.

"We've once had a run-in with Acnologia and know just how dangerous it can be," Makarov says gravely.

"Then you know we don't have time to waste!" I stop as I feel an unbelievable magic pressure over the city. "What is that...?"

We go outside to see a massive cloud of Dark Magic surrounding the city; it's held back for now by some sort of barrier, but that doesn't seem like it'll last too long. I follow the cloud with my eyes to the mountains just past Magnolia Forest; it seems to be originating from there. "Alright! We have to get over th-" A flash of light reaches all the way to the city, then there's a massive explosion of orange and gold; I cover my face expecting sun-like temperatures to melt everything, but instead it just feels...warm. It's a familiar warmth too, loving like Mama, but it's not her; I'd know her warmth anywhere, and that's not it.

_Natsu, don't tell me that you've..._

"Did he...? This is impossible," Makarov says, stunned.

"What? What happened, Master?" Makao demands; Makarov just shakes his head.

"It's for certain... Natsu's used Fairy Law."

"Fairy Law!? But how? Who's taught him?" Cana asks.

"Fairy Law? What's that?" I interrupt, confused.

"Fairy Law is one of the three great fairy magics created by our first Master, Mavis Vermilion," he explains. "As such, for a non-Fairy Tail Mage or brand-new Fairy Tail Mage to know it is impossible, unless he's somehow gotten his hands on our old texts; even so, he can't learn magic like that simply from reading about it."

"Dunno 'bout that... Natsu's pretty special," Laxus says. "If anybody could do that, he could."

"I don't understand why he would do it," I mutter. "Natsu already has tons of magic, unless he already used it up, meaning he'd need a last resort..." I go cold at the thought of Natsu needing a last-resort anything. I touch his scar, which is still wrapped around my neck where he left it; it feels like it was meant to be coarse and bumpy like real scales, but the material is very soft and it smells just like him. "Let's get over there...quick!"

* * *

By the time we get there, there's not much mountain left; the whole thing's been blasted away as if by a hurricane. We realize that it was no hurricane very quickly however, as there's one man standing at the base; he's tall and strongly-built with dark skin and blue hair, and he's standing over Natsu, who's covered in blood and isn't moving or even breathing. My heart stops and the world seems to freeze; I barely notice the other bodies around him, two blue-haired boys that look extremely alike (Erza shouts a name at the sight of them that I can't understand) and there's also Grey and Sting and Rogue too, all beat-up and bleeding and unconscious. The man looks at us and I feel the tension rise exponentially.

"Fairy Tail," he says, clenching his fists. "I've waited for an opportunity to re-kill you."

"Lucy, help our friends," Makarov orders without any room for complaints. "We'll deal with Acnologia."

I can't believe my ears. That's Acnologia? But I don't have time to protest; he raises a hand and throws a ball of Dark Magic at us, which we narrowly dodge and instantly turns the ground to nothingness. I bring all of Fairy Tail's Healing Mages over to the others; they work on Gray and them while I get a small group to focus on Natsu, who's in the worst condition of them all. His eyes don't open even as they seal the scary-looking hole in his chest, and when I take his hand it's ice-cold; there's no fire in him. "Natsu," I whisper, my heart hurting for him; I put my arms around his neck and press my forehead against his. "You don't have to explain anything to me, not anymore; I'll even live with the curse, just _please_ open your eyes..."

He doesn't move and the battle behind me intensifies; my chest trembles from the force emitted by the Guild and Acnologia, and from the sound of it they aren't winning. I hug him harder, ignoring the Mages telling me that it's no good, that he's already too far gone; he _can't_ be gone, not _Natsu_ , not Natsu with the fire brighter and hotter than the sun, I just won't believe it. "A long time ago, you said you'd do anything for me," I told him. "I was half-asleep and you were embarrassed, but because you said it, I know it's true. You'll do anything for me, so I'm asking you to live."

"Lucy!" Erza yells; I raise my head and throw myself forward, rolling out of the way just as a blast of inky black fire razes the grass where I was kneeling moments ago; the bottom of my skirt smolders from the heat, showing just how close I came to getting burnt.

"Open, Gate of the Twins: Gemini!" I release Gemini into the fight; with a puff of magic, they turn into Erza, one of the strongest Mages out here. She looks at them and then back at me, confused. "Just fight!" I call to them, both of them; Gemini nods and Requips a long silver sword, leaping into the fray. I barely turn back to Natsu before I hear another shout; my head snaps up in time to see Sting getting thrown backwards, slamming back-first into the rough stone base of the mountain. He gasps in pain, then Acnologia grabs him by the vest while using his other hand to easily repel Rogue with waves of Black Magic. "Sting!"

"L-Luc-" He chokes off as Acnologia throws him to the dirt, then, dragging him back up, tosses him again; he barrels into Elfman, knocking the both of them over with a thud that sounds painful even from my noise-filled position. Acnologia turns to me, blood painting his skin a gruesome striped pattern, and smirks, raising a hand; my heart stops as the magic builds, but before he can release it his hand is consumed with ice.

"Don't you dare!" Gray shouts, pounding the ground with his palms; more ice appears like a wave until Acnologia's entirely consumed. Fairy Tail doesn't even have time to get false relief before the ice melts into a blackened puddle, Acnologia stretching his shoulders.

"I would like to thank you; I was close to breaking a sweat, but you've just cooled me down, Ice Mage." With a wave of his arm Gray's neck was harnessed by a string of Dark Magic, choking him; Makao and Mirajane stumbled to his side, pulling him away as Makarov attempted to flatten Acnologia to no avail. I wonder why he doesn't use a Fairy Magic - any of the three I've heard about - but then I realize that it's _Acnologia_ we're talking about, a beast that has plague humanity for centuries; that magic, I believe, would be ineffective. Natsu's would be, too; he's just a Dragon Slayer like Sting or Rogue, but those two are being thrown around like ragdolls. Acnologia is on an entirely different level of magic; just being near him is suffocating, and from what I can see, he's nearly impossible to even _touch_.

"Lucy," one of the blue-haired boys say, finally back in action; he approaches me shakily, his legs weak, until he falls on his knees on Natsu's other side. "Is he...?" I can't say it, not even now; he shakes his head. "I'm sorry, I really am; I thought that Natsu, of all people, could face up against Acnologia, but as it seems, I'm always wrong."

"Who...are you?"

"My name is Jellal," he answers. "The other that you see over there is named Mystogun; he is the one that's summoned Acnologia here. I've been trying to use Natsu's magic to maybe even the odds, maybe even repel it, but as you can see..."

"It didn't work." My voice sounds hollow.

"I've never intended for this to happen; I've even failed to see the possibility. I was so sure that I could get some of Natsu's powerful Dragon Slayer magic beforehand, before Mystogun had time to even gather the darkness necessary, but from some unknown source he did, and Acnologia has beaten all of us." He reaches into the folds of his smoldering and worn cloak and pulls out an ornate glass bottle of liquid magic half the size of my hand. "This, however, may be of use still."

"That's Natsu's magic?"

"Amplified and concentrated to great levels, yes; I extracted it from him some time ago...causing his great depression."

"That was you." I try to be angry, but I don't have it left in me, not with Natsu's body getting colder by the second; he looks at me with infinitely sad eyes.

"I can't ever apologize enough, not to any of you, nor can I atone for all the wrong I've done on this Earth and to it's inhabitants, but if I can make up for it now, I will do so in any way possible." He uncorks the bottle and, lifting Natsu's chin with his other hand, puts it to his lips, dripping a third of the contents into his mouth; I see Natsu's throat moving, but he still doesn't move or breathe. He quickly corks the bottle, saving the remainder of magic, and I stare at Natsu expectantly, waiting for something...anything...and getting nothing.

"N...Natsu..." Any hope that I've had dies in a second; I feel hollowed out, like one of our old library books Mama would clear out to hide little surprises for me inside. "Come back, Natsu...come back..." I think I hear something over the sounds of battle, but it's hard to be sure, then I'm certain that I hear him trying to breathe; I pull away, shocked, then I recover and lock my fingers together, hitting his chest. He coughs and sputters, blood splattering all over his chin and cheeks, but his eyes open, scattering for a few seconds before focusing on me, and Natsu smirks.

"Even in death...I can't say no to you...h- _cough_ -huh, Luce?" He reaches up even though his hand is shaking badly and touches my face, wiping away my tears but smearing my cheek with blood. "O-Oh, I'm such an i...idiot..."

"You are, but not because of that." I am fully aware that this isn't the time and place, but I press my lips against his anyway; he tastes like blood and near-death, but since he's Natsu, I'm getting used to it.

"Ah... What'd I do...to deserve that...?" he chuckles when I pull away; I offer a hand and he sits up, but he's in no sort of fighting condition. Thankfully, Gray's back in action; he doesn't miss a beat in chewing Natsu out.

"Oh, so this is what happened to the Salamander himself," he sneers. "I thought you could handle this?"

"Jus' shaddup, Fullbuster; I ain't got time for your crap now," he grumbles. "I'll be fi-"

"Don't say you'll be fine," I hiss, pushing him back as he tries to stand; he stares at me wide-eyed and flabbergasted.

"I will be, I promise."

"Your promises don't mean a lot to me right now, Natsu Dragneel." He shakes his head hard, then he glances at Jellal.

"You're alive."

"So are you," Jellal says in the same tone; Natsu looks at the bottle of magic in his hand.

"That's mine?"

"Yes."

"And it saved me... Thanks, I guess."

"I don't deserve anybody's thanks, but here." He presses it into Natsu's hands. "This could maybe beat Acnologia, if it could remain in human form and you could get it to ingest this."

"Is that... Is that a long-shot of a _maybe_?"

"Aren't you used to those?" he says somewhat wryly; he doesn't respond, just groans in pain and rubs his stomach.

"Fire," he finally says. "I need some fire...any fire...to eat...then I'll be fine." Coincidentally, Makao's nearby (he's a very sweet man and a great dad to Romeo, but he's not that much use in a fight) working with Laki and Cana, and he sends over a blast of orange fire for Natsu; he catches it in his mouth like some sort of Frisbee and swallows it immediately, sighing out a cloud of smoke. "Yeah...that's just right," he says, holding his knee as he gets to his feet; his jacket's burned away and his sandals are gone, leaving him in his ripped-up shorts. He's still scratched up, but he stands taller than anybody else; he looks like a hero. He assesses the damage Acnologia's done, taking out several dozen of our Guild members and leaving only the stronger ones, and shouts, "Acnologia! I hope you don't forget I owe ya!"

"What?" he says, turning to Natsu; he flashes a grin, but it's more manic than excited.

"You took this curse away from me, and so I'm happier than I've been in a long while... I wanna thank ya, but there's only one way I know how to do it!" Gray stands at his left side and I stand at his right, Keys in hand; I summon Loke and Taurus as Gray forms a sword of ice and Natsu lights his hands. He raises them and the flames burn in the form of the letters **_C-O-M-E O-N_**. "So...ya think ya can handle the best of us?"

"Hmph... Doesn't look like I need to," he says as a blur races in from the shadows; Natsu crosses his arms defensively just as a larger man barrels into him with the force of a bull, causing him to skid backwards and his feet to wear trenches in the rocky ground. The man is taller than him, more well-built, and with reptilian eyes; he's also trailed by what seems to be an anthropomorphic panther with a large red sword.

"Fullbuster, Lucy, you two take the cat," Natsu says. "I know how to handle this Metalhead."


	19. Dragon's Force

"I thought you'd have been finished by now, Dragneel," Gajeel says, steel scales forming over his skin. "You've gotten stronger."

"It'd be a real pity if I hadn't," I reply, dancing between feet; I'm more excited for this fight then I've been in a very long time. It doesn't matter that I'm going up against Gajeel, or that Acnologia's within walking distance of me; I'm here, I'm lighter, and I'm ready to kick ass, even if said ass is hard as iron. "I'll be needing answers, Gajeel."

"Che! The only way you'll get me to talk is poundin' them outta me."

I light my fists ablaze. "That works just fine for me." He swings his arm, bringing forward a pillar made of his own steel; I find it easier to dodge than block, leaping into the air and landing on the tip. I can't melt his steel without using up too much magic, but I can smash it with my fist; he recoils in pain, the shell falling to the ground in twisted metal skins. "Don't take the son of Igneel lightly, Gajeel."

"Heh... Wouldn't dream of it." He reforms his iron in the form of a sword. "Iron Dragon's Karma Sword!"

"Fire Dragon's Flame Elbow!" I repel the attack but the impact tears the skin from my arm. He digs his heel into the ground to swing it back around; I don't have time to dodge and it slams me into the mountainside forcefully. I recover quickly, breaking away a chunk of rock the size of a fridge and lobbing it at Gajeel; he spears it easily with his sword, but a small pebble chips his scales. "Ehehe... You're not as invulnerable as you look. Fire Dragon's Roar!"

My fire skids off of his scales like water. "Gihi," he chuckles, brushing away the ash. "You'll have to try a lot harder. Ain't Igneel teach you how to fight?" I rush him with a simple punch; he takes it like a man, and though I scuff his scales, the impact heavily bruises and cracks my knuckles. He lifts his arm and whacks me with the flat of the sword, knocking me aside. "But it figures; he was never as good as Metallicana."

"Don't you dare sully Igneel's name!" I charge him without thinking, my fist up; he lets his sword break away to grab my fist with his hand, his steel grip forcing me down on one knee. "Agaaah-" I feel a jolt within my arm, then there's a final _crack_ and I can't feel my hand anymore.

"I think Acnologia's already done that one for me." He pulls his fist back and pounds me in the face, breaking my nose again, and another punch splits my lip. "Damn Salamander...what hole've you crawled outta to take this stand?" He forces my head down and my face into the dirt, grinding his heel into the back of my skull; I brace my hands on the ground to push him back, grabbing his ankle and dragging him down with me. He makes a fist, but this time I'm faster than him and grab his face, exerting as much fire as I can; it doesn't scratch his skin, but it burns away his metal exterior.

"This face of yours... You've no clue how many dreams it's popped up in," I tell him, unable to prevent my voice from becoming a growl. "Just...taunting me from the afterlife... I'd hate to sound sadistic, but I love that shit; it's because of my weakness (you) that I can be strong today, so beating me further will do precisely jack-shit." I funnel my flames into a drill's point and keep my hand on his face, letting the force and heat of it shock him enough to shed the rest of his scales; he does kick me away, but his defense and attack strength is greatly lowered. Gajeel growls before taking in a huge breath, releasing gale-force winds strung with dangerous pieces of metal; I balance myself in the direct center of his attack, and although I'm majorly uninjured my legs and ankles suffer. I wait until he's out of air to rush him, punching him in the gut and then across his face; he gasps in pain, which is when I take the opportunity to tackle him to the ground. It's hard to hold him down - Gajeel has always and obviously still fights like some sort of wild - and he sends me rolling, sharp rocks ripping the skin from my back and arms as he keeps his grip on me.

"Beatin' you hasn't ever done jack-shit to your annoyin' personality, Dragneel," he replies gruffly before smashing his scaly fist down on my face, blacking my eye on top of my nose and lip. "You always kept movin' with that ridiculous grin on your face, like you ain't never had no sort of trouble..."

"It's because I'm troubled that I can smile," I tell him, grabbing his wrists to hold his fists away from me. "The sky always appears bluer after weeks of storm, and I've had fucking typhoons, Gajeel." I head-butt his forehead, stunning him, and then I move away to slam my foot down on his hard stomach. "But Lucy's done a lot to fix that, her and Fairy Tail; they could help you, too, if you'd only help us now. Or you could just ask me for help, not as enemies or Dragon Slayers but as your friend, as Igneel's son, Gajeel. If nothing else...tell me how you've returned, and if Wendy is here too." He glares at me for a long time with his indecipherable Gajeel expression, and I almost lose hope.

"...If she is here, then I dunno where she is," he finally says gruffly. "That guy Mystogun found me those eight years ago; I wasn't dead - hell, ya really thought that _that_ could kill me? - but I was pretty banged up, which he fixed with his weird magic. Then he cut me a deal: he'd give me all the metal I wanted, plus all the bastards I wanted ta fight, if I just helped him out once in a while, sent some Dark Mages his way and whatever."

"And you listened to him? Oh, Gajeel, you're a bigger muscle-head than I remember... Metallicana has taught you better."

"Ya think I like this?" he growls, pushing me away suddenly and grabbing a fistful of my hair, forcing me to look into his sharp eyes. "It's 'cause you saw Acnologia wreck that guy that ya think he's so easy; his otherworld magic, whatever the hell, is strong, and it's affecting me even now." As if realizing it all, he releases me, bringing his hands to his face; I see them smoking as if his skin is catching fire. "I told ya that I was almost gone, but he fixed me with a little speck: the magic lasts as long as he does, or however he wants it so, whichever comes first. If he goes, then I do too, and if he just doesn't give a shit, then I go anyway."

"I'm just saying," I tell him quietly, not looking for a fight, "that if it came down to my life versus having to have been a part of all of _this,_ I would have given my life in a fruit fly's heartbeat."

"Not everybody is as good-natured as Igneel's son."

"If only I was so deserving of that title... But you now have a choice, Gajeel: yourself, or..." I made a wide gesture, finally causing him to drop that expression of his. "I am not going to force you, because I know that you can be selfish and I don't have a problem with it because I was...am used to it; however, if you stand up against myself or Fairy Tail again, I won't hesitate to kill you." He searches my eyes for a long second before snorting out a chuckle.

"Finally grew a pair, eh, Dragneel? Well, don't think I won't take ya up on that." He clenches his fist to make up his Iron Dragon's Karma Sword and swings it at my neck. I hate to do it, but when worse comes to worse-

-his sword is just barely stopped by Acnologia's extended claws, which were three inches from my neck-

-I have to partner up with _Redfox,_ of all people.

"Dragon's sense of smell and hearing, Acnologia," I say, turning to look it in the eyes. "Even in the thick of battle, they never fail me." It snorts in disappointment before turning its claws round to shatter Gajeel's sword with a scratch. "Friends for now?"

"Until after this bastard's dead, whereupon I will kick your ass to seventh heaven."

"You can try." Acnologia backs away from us momentarily, which is when his eyes shift to Loke, who is rushing him with Regulus Impact; he tosses him aside with nothing more than a flick of his wrist, then he goes after Lucy standing not ten feet behind him. I move to intercept it, putting my arms out to catch Acnologia as it slams me back into the wall of stone, dazing me, and I dig my heels in the dirt to force it back. "Are you alright?" I ask Lucy.

"I don't need your protecting," she says, but her tone is different from before as she runs to kneel at Loke's side. "Are you okay?" she asks him, touching his cheek; he puts his hand over hers with a smirk in my direction that makes my blood instantly reach boiling point.

It's hard not to notice just how...outclassed we all are. Acnologia has yet to break a sweat, and the Guild is all but crawling on its knees to fight him. The Healing Mages, even, are pushed to the brink trying to recover the Guild members and send them back against it. Despite everybody's best efforts, however, they are all downed eventually, even Gajeel. I feel even worse than before, and my body won't move from the ground as I watch Acnologia stalk towards me. It grabs my neck, bringing me up, but I notice that it's not holding me tight enough to choke me. "I want to know what you did earlier," it growls. "That light... I want to know what magic you cast."

"Yeah, you would like to know," I snarl back. This time, Acnologia squeezes with all of its strength. I lose consciousness for all of three seconds before the pain snaps me back just as quickly as it had knocked me out.

"I am not kidding, Natsu Dragneel."

"O-Old magic," I sputter. "Dark Magic... Darker than e-even you." I spit in its eye.

"You-" It pulls back and throws me like a stone across water. I hit the ground hard, so hard that I feel like I might not stand again, and the vial of my magic falls from my pocket onto the grass. It picks it up, eyes it up and down, then smashes it in its fist. My magic runs down its skin and drips into the earth uselessly. "Was this your plan? Poisoning me?" he scoffs. "Perhaps if you could've once _touched me_ , this would have been an admirable effort."

"Ugh...uuugh..." i can barely turn my head, let alone stand up. Disappointed, or maybe just bored, I can't tell, Acnologia moves to examine the rest of its handiwork.

"Hah... Ya got beat, Dragneel." I can't see him, and yet Redfox is still pissing me off.

"Hypocrisy?"

"Huh... In all seriousness, what're we gonna do? Wasn't that yer last resort or somethin'?" It wasn't, actually, but I can't tell Gajeel that lest Acnologia hear. My backup plan is actually still in the works.

"Sadly, yes." He swears loudly.

"So what, we jus' lay here 'n' die? I've already done that, and I'll tell ya, it's not as fun as it sounds."

"Great, Mystogun has also zombified your sense of humor, as if _you_ weren't enough." I stare at the sky and notice that the sun has begun to set. I wonder how many citizens of Magnolia are watching this same sunset from the comfort of their homes, not knowing that it could very well be their last. I don't want it to be their last; I want to help everybody. It's what I owe them, after all. Had I not come... Had my sorry ass never trekked over Magnolia's boundaries, everything would be different. Mystogun would never have followed me here to get my magic, Jellal would never have followed Mystogun, and _none of this would have happened._ "Gajeel, can you move?"

"Sorta, why? Got a plan?"

"Sort of. I want you to go in my pocket and give me the etherion."

"Yer gonna eat it?" He shifts, stretching his arm to put his hand in my pocket. "You already died once; this'll push ya over the brink for sure."

"I won't die. I thought about it, and I realized that if I hadn't come here, then Mystogun wouldn't have either, and Magnolia and even Lucy would've been spared. However, some other city would have suffered, and that still wouldn't sit well with me at all. It may not entirely be my fault that Mystogun has caused all of this, but I will bet my life that I'll end all of this here and now." He doesn't say anything but I can almost feel his disapproval.

"Wish I woulda told you this sooner," he says as he drops the etherion crystals in my mouth and I bite down on them, "but you were 'n' still are my best friend, Dragneel."

* * *

There is this...moment, I should say, when no matter how tumultuous your life was before, it all clicks and falls into place, a puzzle that's been scattered across all ends of the Earth and has finally been brought back together. I didn't quite feel whole - that ship had sailed years ago - but the closest I could get to it, and it was just...awesome. I don't know how else to describe it.

I start shouting and screaming against my will, my back arching from the ground as blood fills my throat and runs down my chin and neck. Acnologia looks over in interest. _Yeah, bastard, get your fill now._ I dig my claws into the dirt, feeling my nails break against the hard rock beneath, and it feels like my body will give up on me right then and there, but I know it won't. It's not a matter of "I can't die here either," it's "I _literally_ can't die here." I clench my jaw until it hurts, forcing my muscles to work, sitting up and then pushing myself to my feet. It hurts...every single part of me that can hurts does, but I push the pain to some part of my mind and look Acnologia in the eyes.

"Really? Do you _want_ me to cut you into strips?" it snorts.

"Some time ago, I would have been too terrified to face you, but now..." I grab my left shoulder and keep my eyes on him as my hand burns an imprint into my skin, steam rolling out from between my fingers. It's the first time I've ever been burned, let alone burn myself. "I have friends to protect, Guild members." I show him the mark I've made, the one that's now permanently emblazoned upon my body, my heart. "These people have treated me more like a family than anybody I've known since Igneel, and so I, Natsu, as a fellow Fairy Tail wizard, will put everything on the line to protect them just as they've done for me."

"Such a noble act, it sickens me," it says before it puts its hand in the air. "And I have no time left to waste, so I'll just be kind and put you out of your misery, you and your Guild." Dark magic swirls into form in the air above its palm, amassing and growing by the second. I try to attack Acnologia but it counters me with its free hand. It's obvious that the little magic I've gained is insufficient considering that Acnologia has barely put a dent in its own power taking on all of the Guild. I retreat backwards, watching its ball of darkness grow larger and larger, getting closer to leveling all of Magnolia in one strike. Panic builds in my throat as I think of these Guild members on the ground, and I look back and forth at them struggling to rise. Even if they could rise, they still can't fight it... Then, I remember.

"Your magic!" I tell them. "Give me your magic! Please, I need all of it!"

Erza is the first on one knee, bracing her sword on the ground to rise. "Do it," she repeats. "Dragon magic, from what I've heard, works as a powerful amplifier; we could stand a chance!" She glows with energy, then she changes into an orange and black-decalled armor. "Do it!" she says again as she points her sword at me. A great wave of orange and gold fire launches from the point of the blade and at me. I consume it quickly, eagerly, feeling the flames build in my body.

"Do you take ice?" Gray Fullbuster groans, getting to his feet.

"Any magic... At this point, any magic will help!"

Gray puts his hands out. "Ice Make: Cannon!" He forms a cannon of solid ice and shoots his magic at me. I still consume it, although it doesn't go down as easily as fire, yet magic is magic as I feel the life returning to my body.

"Romeo, c'mon," Makao says, bringing his son to his feet. Together, they form seven colors of fire, all of which merge to make white fire. It tastes like nothingness, yet it also tastes like everything.

"Jet, Droy," Levi Mc Garden says, using her magic to make the word FIRE in bold orange letters.

"You're a real man, a great man, Natsu," Elfman says, giving his magic as well.

"Come on, Lisanna," Mirajane says as her and her sister rise.

"Alzack..."

"Juvia..."

"Cana..."

"Freed..."

"Bixslow..."

"Wacaba..."

More magic floods into my body than I've ever had, and it almost overwhelms me. I keep a thin thread of control as I back away further from Acnologia, feeling my internal temperature rise exponentially.

"The twelve gates of the Zodiac," she says, and I feel the intense magical energy before I see it. Lucy pitches forward and I rush to catch her before she falls.

"Lucy, you'll kill yourself," I warn her.

"I'll be...fine..." she pants, looking at me with those eyes. "Just...accept my...my help for once... I want to... _help you_... for all you've...helped me..."

"T...Thank you, Lucy." I hold her until she can right herself, then I turn to her spirits, the twelve Celestial Spirits of the Zodiac, the most powerful ones in their world.

"I guess...you can call this my repayment," Loke says, putting a hand on my shoulder. "For protecting her." His magic flows into me from his contact, bright and hot. He backs away and her Spirits make it quick, most likely to spare her the stress of summoning all twelve of them at once. They quickly vanish, although their magic remains within me.

"Everybody...I want to thank you," I tell the Fairy Tail Mages.

"It's no trouble to help the city, or family," Makarov replies, indicating the Guild mark that I've stolen.

"I-"

"Don't be sorry; it was only a matter of time before one of us branded you in your sleep," Gray snorts with a small smirk, then the levity of the moment returns as Acnologia's magic gains its own gravitational pull, forming a whirlwind that pulls dirt and leaves inside only to be vaporized. I try to put as much distance between the two of us as I can.

"Don't try to run now, Natsu Dragneel," Acnologia says in a low voice. "I want to see your face when I destroy what's dear to you."

"I want to see your face, too." I put my hands to my mouth, feeling every last bit of what my friends believe in course through my body. The grass below my feet burns before turning to ash, my skin is now so hot. Acnologia never breaks eye contact, as if it's challenging me to be more than the crying child it saw ten years ago. It's a damn shame, really; if I still was that child, it just might have stood a chance.

" _Fire Dragon's Roar._ "


	20. Halfhearted Promises

I realize that light - real, pure light - is something that I've never known.

"Good morning Sleeping Beauty," Fullbuster smirks when I open my eyes.

"Why am I waking up to your face, of all people?" I roll over in bed petulantly, which is when I realize that I'm in a bed. "I'm alive."

"Yes I'm glad you can see that."

"I'm alive," I repeat dumbly. "I'm alive? ...Yes, I'm alive." I look at Gray. "You're alive. We're alive."

"Do I need to hit you or something? because I'd be glad to."

"No, I'm...fine. Sort of. I may be in shock." He hits me anyway, hard enough to snap my head to the side. "Thank you, I feel a little better."

"No, I should be thanking _you_... Magnolia owes you some gratitude, matter of fact." He crosses his arms over his chest, which is finally clothed. "You put your life on the line to stop Mystogun."

"I don't deserve the gratitude, but I appreciate the sentiment." I let my head fall back against the pillow and stare at the ceiling. "Is everybody alright?"

"No one died, if that's what you mean."

"Gajeel?" He sighed. "What happened?"

"You beat Acnologia," Gray says. "Or drove him away, I don't know. There was this light you made; nobody could see anything for a while, and when we could, it was gone, but Magnolia was still there. You were out cold and stayed that way for a week."

"A week's passed? I feel like I only missed a few minutes... Ooh," I groan, clenching my stomach. "Eating etherion wasn't my smartest idea.

"You think you're well enough for another visitor?"

"W-Who?"

"Don't act like you don't know," Gray mutters, standing up.

"Wait. No offense, but why were you sitting there?"

"Huh?" He thought for a moment, but his expression told me that he already knew the answer. "Not sure why, really."

"Thanks anyway, Gray."

"Hm," he smirks. "You're welcome, Natsu."

* * *

Lucy and I stare intently at each other for a long time. I'm not sure if it's because we have nothing to say, or if it's because we have too much to say. She bunches up the fabric of her skirt between her hands as she continues to stare at me, eyes wide and watery. "You're..." She finally breaks and grabs my face, pulling it to hers. I can't breathe for a while, but I don't even care. I bite her lip without really thinking and she recoils almost immediately.

"Shit, I'm sorry - did I hurt you?"

"No... No, not that," she says, turning red. "It's... You're freezing."

"Oh. I guess I didn't notice." Now that she mentions it, I notice that my breath freezes in the air as I speak. "Guess I'm really out of magic. It'll be a while before I can reach normal body temperature again, let alone my usual."

"Hm... You know what I just realized?"

"What?"

She takes my hand and winds her fingers through mine. "I'm finally stronger than you," she laughs. I grab her arms and pull her down on top of me, then I flip her over so that I'm on my elbows above her.

"Maybe not," I grin. She doesn't look like she hears, turning redder until she's practically purple.

"N-Natsu..."

"Yes? Can I help you?" She slaps my arm weakly.

"Natsu!"

"You know, this is pretty uncomfortable." I lie down next to her and pull her against my chest; her head falls into the crook of my neck and I feel more relaxed than I have in a while. It's very strange when I think about it; I used to think that the best place in the world was curled up in Igneel's elbow against his ribs where I could hear his enormous heart beat like a bass drum, but then I've realized that I have a much better place, that being with Lucy against me like puzzle pieces coming together. The thought makes me hold her tighter, wanting to feel all of her bare skin against all of mine, and she grips my bare waist harder in response; we roll over once, twice, and then we're an incomprehensible tangle of limbs, so tightly coiled that I can't even tell where my body stops and where hers begins.

"Your curse is gone," she says against my cheek.

"How do you know?"

"The rules you've set for yourself...for us...they're gone." I grip her tighter if that's even possible.

"I've just realized how valuable time is. I planned on leaving Magnolia right after, even if I had to physically rip my heart out and leave it here to do so, but then I thought of you, and it was like every hypothetical just...inverted on the spot. In the beginning it was you, and it's always been you since then, but now there's Fullbuster and Gajeel and Mira and Elfman and Laxus and dozens upon dozens more. The time I have with you all... I wouldn't trade away for all the world."

"You know...I was scared. Scared that I lost you." There it is, the things we've been avidly avoiding speaking about. "When I saw you on the ground, it was like the universe came to a stop; I couldn't move and I couldn't breathe, and I would've done anything to bring you back. That's what love is, Natsu Dragneel, and that's all I have for you."

"I love you too, Lucy." There's this fervent moment of just...heat, and it's weird because it's not really coming from me...well, most of me anyway. Then I'm biting her lip again but she's biting mine too, and her skirt is going down her tights and my belt is twisting out of its knot and-

"Ahem. I thought I heard sex in here, but then I thought _Eh, it's Dragneel, probably just him beatin' his own,_ " a gruff voice says from the corner. Lucy and I snap apart almost immediately and get our clothes back in order in the same movemet.

"What in all fire's Hell do you fucking want, Redfox?" I snap at him; he raises his pierced hairless eyebrows.

"Oh, 'm sorry. Sexual frustration makes you a real bitch, huh? I hope yer not too disappointed neither, blondie," he says to Lucy, who is positively mortified.

"I-I'm gonna wait outside," she mutters so quickly that even we can barely understand her. She rushes past Gajeel, who gives her an amused look before coming over to my bedside. His head and left arm are bandaged while his right arm is in a cast and sling.

"Thanks a fucking lot you motherfucking metalhead."

"Hey, if I ain't gettin' none, neither are you." He sits down on a chair and crosses his legs comfortably. "How ya feel?"

"Frustrated. Pent-up. Ready to tear into the next thing that I see."

"Enough of your boring sex life. In all seriousness, I hope yer alright. Acnologia was a best."

"Yeah, well, this was _your_ first time seeing just how much of a beast it is."

"Sorry, forgot. ...You know, yer friends caught Jellal...not so much Mystogun."

"I figured as much."

"Well? Yer not mad?" I sighed, turning away from from him.

"Of course I'm angry; it'd be crazy if I wasn't. Still, there isn't anything that I can do about that without going off on some long and stupid journey; him, I will leave to the authorities, but you can bet your rock-hard ass that if ERA does catch Mystogun, I'll be the first to rip his head off of his shoulders."

"I expected that," he smirked. "...Ya got a nice woman there, Dragneel. DD?"

"Shut your wired trap."

"She went a long way to help you...I gotta appreciate that. Wish I had my own girl."

"Eh. There's a friend for everybody, even you; she just...you know...might not exist on this plane."

"Ha ha ha," he snorts. "Obviously, you're perfectly fine and I'm just wasting my time."

"Actually, I'm...not," I admit. "I used a magic back there that I really shouldn't have, and since then it's been making me feel...odd."

"What magic?"

"Well, I don't know the name; the book I borrowed was old and had more than a few missing pages. However, I gathered that it has a grave side-effect."

"But you still used it? That was damn stupid," he points out.

"I didn't have a choice! If not for my doing that, Fairy Tail wouldn't have had time to arrive."

"Eh, I'll give you that then." He shifts a little uncomfortably, then he sighs in defeat. "...Gotta thank ya."

"For what?"

"Well, if not for you, I'd be rottin' in jail somewhere or still runnin' with Mystogun."

"That reminds me," I mutter. "I hate to bring up the elephant in the room, specifically the death one, but you're still alive even though he has to have cancelled the magic by now."

"It's funny huh. Ya thought you'd lost me? Were about to kiss my grave 'n' all that?" he taunts. "But, uh, the Mages down here are workin' on reviving me permanently, so ya don't have to worry 'bout that."

"Good. I'd hate to lose you again, Gajeel."

"Stop with the sappy shit already," he snorts, but he smiles too. "Still frustrated?"

"Yes, unless you want to do something about that?" I don't mean it seriously but he grimaces anyhow.

"Yeah, I could do a lot better than you. I'm not a big fan of _pink_." He gets up faster than I can, which makes me miss when I try to throw the pillow at him. Erza walks in after him, and the first thing she does is prostrate before me.

"We of Magnolia owe you a lot, Natsu," she says, head bowed.

"Please... Erza, please don't." She does stand, albeit reluctantly, and offers a hand to me; her handshake alone makes me want to cry with her grip of all-hell. "Please... Erza, you're breaking my fingers."

"Sorry," she says, her cheeks coloring as she draws her hand back. "But my gratitude is genuine. You saved all of us."

"I did not, in fact, save you all; _we_ saved Magnolia. All by my lonesome I would have died facing Acnologia."

"Still, your help was invaluable. Are you alright?"

"Frustrated," I say without really thinking. "I mean, yes; I'll be better once I regain my magic, however."

"The Master wants to have a word with you." I notice her eyes linger on my self-proclaimed Fairy Tail status.

"Oh...right."

"Can you stand? and walk?"

"Yes... Yes," I say with more certainty, swinging my legs off of the bed to stand up. With almost every inch of bare skin on me being bandaged, it does hurt like all hell, but I've dealt with worse. She passes me a folded-up bundle of clean clothes: my jacket, my canvas pants, and my sandals. "Where did you get these?"

"They're a favor from the Guildmaster of Sabertooth," she answers. Of course it's from him. I also find a card buried in one of the pockets: "HOPE WE MEET AGAIN! -S.E." He's a piss-ant and I'm still not a fan, but at least he cares.

"Thanks for bringing these over, Erza."

"No, actually he dropped them off personally. He also mentioned 'getting my little ass out of his sight'?"

"That's sort of our always. Anyhow, thank you, really."

* * *

The clothes feel strange on me, but not because they don't fit; on the contrary, it's more like I expected them not to fit. I just feel like I've grown so much over these weeks that things shouldn't be so...mundane. Gray is still avoiding Juvia, Elfman is still preaching about manliness, Mirajane is still serving drinks, Makao and Wacaba are still trying to regain their youth, Levy is reading with Lucy... Things are going back to normal, and I'm just the weird one for not accepting that.

Makarov's office is different than when I last entered, maybe because it was previously entombed with Dark Magic and is now alight with his special brand of Fairy Tail wizard eccentricity. He's sitting on his desk with a magic pipe balanced between his lips; different shapes come our of both ends, puppies and little stars and tiny hearts. "Natsu! It's great to see you up and at 'em again," he beams.

"Yeah, guess so. You too, sir. I, er, want to apologize for using your mark without your permission-" He waves me off.

"It's alright my child! We already considered you one of us."

"But-but-"

"Natsu, it's okay," he repeats. "But that's not why I've called you."

"...It's...not?"

_The Magic Council, among other Mages, are working to repair Magnolia and wipe the last traces of Mystogun's Dark Magic from the city. It has taken it's toll even through Jellal's barrier, however it did not take any lives within the city. That is to say, however, that those living on the outskirts suffered, some even from death; in the name of the Celestial Spirit King, Happy wasn't in our house at the time and therefore survived. The mountain was sealed off with runic barriers, and the Council was taking up nearly-pointless magical readings and contraband for "investigation", when in reality I think they're just desperately searching for somebody to blame. They can't quite say "Acnologia did all of this" because not many people have seen the Dragon Slayer, let alone heard of it, and so that would be a very lost cause. Instead, they called it a "magical backup within the region" and simply warned the Mages of affected cities to watch their magic, make sure to report any Dark Guilds to the Council for immediate termination, blah blah blah..._

"That magic that you used against Acnologia, the one you found out about from us?"

"Yes, I'm very sorry... I know that parts of your library are sealed off, but I am...I was, at least, lonely enough to seek solace in any book I could find. I found the spell in a very old text indeed and stored it away in my memory; it just came to mind during that fight, as if by...dare I say...magic."

"Do you know what it's called?" I shake my head. Makarov gives the pipe one more puff before setting it down and giving me the most pitiful expression I've ever seen; with that, I can already tell what the "grave side effects" of my blunder are in one fell swoop.

_Jellal has turned himself in to us, and for that has been locked in the dungeon for the time being. He gave as much information as he knew, and for that he was treated very mildly._

"It's the primordial form of a great Fairy Magic, and it is called 'Law.'"

"...?"

"It is a forbidden magic because of it's insurmountable price. Yes, you can vanquish great evil, however those who use it are cursed by the god Ansekheram."

_Lucy has a new apartment in Crocus; I should maybe visit her once in a while... But I also have Happy to worry about, who digs through trash if he's not fed. Reminds me, I should leave some fish at home...oh, right, I have a home. I almost forgot what it feels like to have a place to be, but now I have two. I still have funds from that 'Rekindle the Village's Flame' job; I could use it down at the fish market. And if I'm going downtown, I could buy Erza some strawberry cream cake from her favorite bakery too, and pick up some old metal appliances for Gajeel to eat. Maybe, I can even find Gray a shirt he can't take off, and I can find Lucy a nice present..._

"What...exactly...does that mean?" I've never felt more breathless in my life.

"The Ansekhram curse had plagued our original Master, Mavis Vermillion, and also the Dark Mage Zeref. As long as the cursed values life..." he pauses to look at my expression, which I'm sure is horrid, and he gives me a pitying sigh, "those around them will die."

No. No way.

No no no no no way.

NO. FUCKING. WAY.

Not now...please, just not now... Let this be a mistake...

"H-How would you know..." I have to swallow repeatedly as my throat feels scraped raw with sandpaper, "...if someone has this curse?"

"The first most obvious sign is a lack of aging," he says. "That effect is more visible over a long period of time, however Healing Mages can check if your body's cells are dying. If they aren't..." He doesn't need to finish, and I don't want him to.

"Not now... Why now...?" I raise my head to the ceiling, not caring that I've started to cry in front of Makarov. "Why? Why now? I really can't be happy, can I...?" I snap my head down to look at my hands, which are shaking, and then back at Makarov. "I... I can't be here," I stammer, backing away. "I c-can't... S-someone might d-d-d-..." I turn and run even as he calls my name, bursting through his door and into the Guild hall. Not many notice me, them still celebrating, but of course Lucy has to.

"Natsu!" she cries, chasing after me as I burst into the sunlight. It feels too warm on my cold skin, and now my heart is just as cold as my skin. I can smell Gray and Erza and Gajeel following behind her, following me through Magnolia, and I just-just want to shout at them to leave me alone, but I can't bring myself to.

"Please! Just let me go!" I yell, furiously wiping at my tears. I trip over - something - and fall on my stomach hard. Gajeel grabs my shoulders and brings me to my feet where Lucy stands in front of me, a shattered expression on her face. She tries to take my hand but I pull from her grip; she makes an annoyed sound as tears fall down her cheeks as well and she forces her lips against mine. Like always, my will crumbles to dust, and when she pulls away I sink to my knees and she does too.

"Why?" she whispers into my mouth. I try not to think about her, because if I do I fear that I'll become like Zeref, killing everything around me.

"I don't want to..."

"Why?" she repeats fervently. "Why are you trying to leave us? to leave _me,_ Natsu?"

"Lucy, I'm cursed, alright?"

"No, you're not, Acnologia-"

"IT'S NOT HIM!" I shout despite myself, causing her to flinch in fear. _Fear._ God, I never thought that I could make Lucy afraid of me, and it makes me feel worse than the actual curse. "I...I'm sorry, Lucy, but I didn't mean...it. The magic that I used against it...it was unfinished, and it had consequences... I can't stay around you all anymore, because then you actually will die."

"No, Natsu, we'll figure this out too-"

"There's no figuring this out, Lucy." I stand, bringing her to her feet, and wipe her tears away. "I just have to go; that's it."

"Natsu, you can't just go," Gray says, grabbing my arm.

"He's right," Erza adds, grabbing my other arm. Their proximity makes me nervous and I can feel my body begin to warm up again. Fire starts licking at my sandals and I try to push them away, but their grips are too strong; Lucy crashes against my chest, encircling my waist with her small arms, and it feels like Gajeel's iron claw.

"Natsu," Gajeel says, and for once I can see the light of our friendship in his eyes, and it physically fucking hurts to do this.

"I... Someday, you guys, I promise that on Fairy Tail's name." I push my fire away and out of my body; it's not hot enough to physically injure them, but it does force them to release me, and I take off again, and I don't hear feet behind me.

_"Someday, you guys, I promise..."_


	21. Epilogue

_**Years** _

_**upon years have passed...** _

_**Everything has changed, but somehow** _

_**nothing else has.** _

_**Magnolia has grown** _

_**Fairy Tail has grown, and I've watched** _

_**from afar.** _

...

**_I've held the hand of a little one_ **

**_with blonde hair, brown eyes_ **

**_like her mother,_ **

_**And I watched the one I love** _

_**have her with a different person** _

_**...** _

_**It goes to show** _

_**even the greatest of love** _

_**can be broken, can form a new bond** _

_**And generation after generation** _

_**I've helped more of the Heartfilia children** _

_**Never staying, never becoming attached** _

_**But they become attached to me** _

_**And each time a little boy or girl** _

_**with Lucy's eyes** _

_**gives me a Lucy smile** _

_**I feel like I'm breaking all over again** _

_**...** _

**_Generations after_ **

**_the Fairy Tail I've known has passed_ **

**_I'm still there._ **

**_Lucy isn't, but_ **

**_I have her in my heart_ **

**_and I stare at the city from afar_ **

**_and I remember_ **

**"I love you"**

_**from a better time** _


End file.
